Trahisons (Betrayal)

"Thanks to tg STAN, we've experienced moments of joy and unforgettable emotion."

- PHILIPPE TESSON, LE FIGARO

"Stop Thinking About Names". Taking the initials of this groundbreaking premise, four young Belgians got together in the late 1980s under the name of tg STAN. They all defend the freedom of action and of acting, reject the authoritarianism of a single director and want to devote themselves to the full development of the actor. So, as they themselves define it, their collective emerged as a reaction to the "excessive aestheticism, unworldly formal experiments and the hand of (all too) authoritative directors." The pure relation which exists between the actor, the character and the text was (and is) the focal point of the company. With nearly 25 years of premieres behind them, the STAN brand continues without taking on board any dogmas or hierarchies but instead, eagerness and enthusiasm. An eagerness to communicate, to transfer its passion for the texts it loves. Now, this ever-ebullient company has a new target in its sights amongst an already rich and varied repertoire (which already contains illustrious names such as Ibsen, Chekhov, Bernhard, Cocteau and Diderot amongst others) with the staging in French of Trahisons (Betrayal), one of British playwright Harold Pinter's most acclaimed works.

Pinter wrote Betrayal in 1978, telling the story of a classic three-way relationship in which Emma has an affair with her husband Robert's best friend Jerry over a period of seven years. Pinter uses an unusual dramatic structure in which the work begins at the end and ends with the beginning. This allows the writer to address issues such as loyalty, honesty and self-deception. Betrayal presents characters who are hostage to an all-consuming passion, who struggle against the inevitable mediocrity of their daily lives and who want to live grandly in a world which is too small. Pride, longings, lies and the weaknesses of his characters manifest themselves via the laconic and ruthless style for which the author is famous. With Betrayal, Pinter elevates the prosaic nature of human relations to poetry.

 

Credits

TITLE: Trahisons (Traición), by Harold Pinter

COMPANY: tg STAN

DRAMATISATION AND INTERPRETATION: Robby Cleiren, Jolente de Keersmaeker and Frank Vercruyssen

 

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