Cast announced for one of Pinter’s major dramatic works at Derby Theatre this spring
Derby Theatre is delighted to announce the cast for one of their big productions for the spring, Betrayal by Harold Pinter, on from Friday 17 March until Saturday 1 April.
Emma and Jerry meet two years on from the end of their adulterous affair. Emma has betrayed her husband Robert. Jerry has betrayed his best friend Robert. But Robert has secrets of his own.
As time peels backwards charting a seven-year love affair, a complicated and intricate web of lies and deceit is revealed, making us question who is betraying whom.
Inspired, in part, by Harold Pinter's affair with BBC presenter Joan Bakewell and written in 1978, the first production went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, as well as being adapted into an Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated film.
Betrayal is a bitter dark comedy and a gripping story of infidelity and the cast includes: Philip Correia, Kemi-Bo Jacobs, Ben Addis and Matthew Curnier.
Ben Addis will play Robert and his recent credits include The Night Watch (Manchester Royal Exchange); Richard III (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and for TV, The Eichmann Show (Feelgood Fiction for BBC2); Lewis and Vera (ITV) and Doctor Who and The Musketeers (BBC). Kemi-Bo Jacobs will play Emma and her recent credits include All My Sons (Manchester Royal Exchange and National Tour), Hedda Gabler (Salisbury Playhouse) and The Burial (The Albany) and for TV, Doctor Who, Our Girl, Thirteen and Death In Paradise (BBC); Lewis and Vera (ITV) and Delicious (Sky). Philip Correia will play Jerry and his recent theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Anthony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe and international tour); The Herbal Bed (Rose Theatre Kingston, Royal and Derngate Northampton and English Touring Theatre); The History Boys (National Theatre and West End) and Bliss! (a feature film currently playing film festivals). Completing the cast, in the role of the waiter, will be Matthew Curnier, whose credits include Cat in the Hat (National Tour) My Brother's Country (The Lowry) and Sweet Revenge (Windsor Repertory Theatre).
Director, Lekan Lawal is currently Resident Assistant Director at Derby Theatre as part of the RTYDS (Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme), Associate Artist at the Hackney Showroom and and an Old Vic 12 Director. His training includes: LAMDA, Springboard (Young Vic), and the Young Writers’ Programme (Royal Court).
Lekan’s credits as a Director include: Stories To Tell In The Middle Of The Night (Summerhall, Edinburgh); Last Journey (Pentabus/Latitude); NI-3811863 (Taking Part, Young Vic) and Capitalism in Crisis (Arcola Theatre).
As an Associate/Assistant Director Lekan’s credits include: Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (A Derby Theatre and Mercury Theatre Colchester co-production); Look Back in Anger, Jinny, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella (Derby Theatre); Measure for Measure (Young Vic); Politrix (The Big House); Matthew Locke’s The Tempest (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse); and The Merchant of Venice (Arcola Theatre).
Other creative team members for Betrayal include design by Neil Irish, lighting design by Arnim Friess and sound design by Paul Arditti. Neil has designed productions for many venues and theatres across the UK and for Derby Theatre, he designed A Christmas Carol, Solace of the Road, Look Back in Anger and Alice in Wonderland. Arnim designed the lighting for Look Back in Anger at Derby Theatre and also has numerous national and international lighting design credits to his name. Paul is an award-winning sound designer with credits including Amadeus and The Threepenny Opera (Olivier Theatre); Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Billy Elliot The Musical (London, Broadway and international tours).
Harold Pinter is a renowned British playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. He was also a screen writer, director, political activist, actor and one of the 20th century's most influential dramatists. Pinter wrote thirty-two plays, twenty-two screenplays and directed thirty-six theatre productions, with classic pieces of work including The Birthday Party, The Homecoming, The Caretaker and the The Dumb Waiter, to name just a few.
Pinter received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, and was awarded the Companion of Honour in 2002. His many awards include the Moliere D'Honneur for Lifetime Achievement, the European Theatre Award and the Legion d'Honneur.
Lekan Lawal (Director of Betrayal) said: "I’m delighted to be directing Betrayal as part of Derby Theatre’s spring season as a culmination of an 18-month placement here with the Regional Theatre Young Directors' Scheme.
Pinter's semi-autobiographical play expertly delves into the inherently complex nature of desire and the unforeseen ramifications of deceit. His experimentation with non-linear form, by way of reverse chronology to explore memory, is riveting and in many ways feels both cinematic and contemporary, revealing both the causality and emotional cost of prolonged deception upon Emma, Jerry and Robert.
We’ve brought together an incredibly talented cast and creative team and I am looking forward to sharing this fantastic play with Derby audiences."
Tickets for Betrayal range from £9.50 - £26.50, with group and concession rates available. For more information and to book tickets, call the Box Office on 01332 593939 or online at www.derbytheatre.co.uk