Review: THE PINTER PLAY FESTIVAL At Katonah Classic Stage

Katonah Classic Stage opened its impressive new season with The Pinter Play Festival. The opening show is Betrayal, turning the age-old story of an extramarital affair on its head because of the complex relationships between each party.

The first scene takes place in London in 1977, two years after Jerry (Trent Dawson) and Emma (Claire Karpen, www.clairekarpen.com) broke up. Emma meets Jerry to tell him that her marriage to Robert (Richard Hollis) is over. From there, the play takes the audience on a journey of twists and turns with shocking surprises which may color the way audiences view each character with each scene.

Each character plays with the lives of people they loved. Normally, they would be unlikeable, but Dawson, Hollis, and Karpen totally get Pinter’s multi-faceted characters and are convincing in their roles. They balance being sympatico and being reserved, and they master Pinter’s ambiguities, tensions, and famous pauses.

There is another character in this play – a waiter in the scene when Robert and Jerry are having lunch. The actor is Sam Rodd (www.samrodd.com) who graduated this past spring from Western Carolina University and already has a lot of experience in musical theater. He is quite memorable in this small role.

I saw this show when it first opened on Broadway (starring the late Raúl Julia) and then saw the movie and liked both, but the Katonah Classic Stage production just blew me away. I attribute much of that to the brilliant directing of Daniel Gerroll, who previously worked with Pinter. The rest I attribute to the excellent cast and crew. Laura Valenti’s set design initially looks as simple as it can get, and then there are magical panels that open to a bed, to another room, and to two doorways. The background is in perfect harmony with the round table and two chairs that appear in nearly every scene. Riley Cavanaugh’s lighting complements it well. John Gromada’s sound design ensures that everyone can hear well. Tracy Christiansen’s costumes are timeless, yet still work in the era of the late ‘60s and ‘70s. Whatever Eric Zoback did as technical director, he did well, because there was not one glitch anywhere. That’s not something to take for granted, because when you attend a show and there’s a problem, it grows bigger by the minute.

Don’t miss Betrayal, and then you must return for the second part of the Pinter Fall Festival with the plays The Dumb Waiter and Applicant. Artistic Director and Executive Director Trent Dawson and Sharron Kearney wanted to include a Pinter play for Katonah Classic Stage’s first full season. As soon as they decided on Betrayal, they got a call from the Pacific Resident Theatre in Los Angeles. PRT had a huge success with its production of The Dumb Waiter and wanted to bring it to the East Coast. How terrific is that?

Betrayal runs through October 15 and The Dumb Waiter and Applicant run from October 19 through 29. If you haven’t discovered Katonah Classic Stage, this is a great way to dive in for high quality, professional theater in the suburbs. Performances take place at the North Castle Library’s beautiful and comfortable Whippoorwill Hall at 19 East Whippoorwill Road in Armonk. For tickets, visit www.katonahclassicstage.com/events/pinter/.

There’s more. Katonah Classic Stage’s corporate sponsor Amore (www.amorearmonk.com), located just next door to the theater), created a specialty cocktail called the Pinter Pause! It’s an Apple Mule mixture of vodka with fresh apple cider caramel sauce, served over ice and garnished with a slice of apple and a cinnamon stick. It’s a terrific restaurant, too, so make a great evening of it.

One more thing. It’s a bit tricky to find the North Castle Library on your GPS, so put in Amore and follow those directions. If you’re coming from New York City, take the train to the North White Plains train station and then an Uber to the theater.

To post a comment, you must register and login.