Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

We opened our production of Betrayal on Superbowl Sunday. (Fortunately timed to precede kick-off). It’s been wonderful to sit outside of the production, watching it develop (and not have to be inside of it, acting and living the reality of its pain).

Any actor or director would know what I’m talking about. A weird thing happens when one invests deeply in a play as an actor or director. No matter how committed one is to keeping the play a play (and life, life), there is an unavoidable overlap. The phrase I always use is that one becomes “weathered under” the emotional atmosphere of the play. To become weathered under an atmosphere of betrayal is…rough sledding. Betraying a domestic partner is both wildly exciting (all of that sneaking around, all of that pressure of time for the stolen moments) and hugely heartbreaking (there is some fundamental disappointment fueling the entire enterprise). Awakening those peak experiences through the vehicle of the knife-like consciousness of a playwright like Harold Pinter is…rough sledding. (When I talked to the actors at the end of the first week of rehearsal they all said, “It’s great. It’s really hard.”)

Sitting in the theater, though, I can say, it’s a great ride. The play is swift, witty, surprising, and true. Stick around for the post-show conversation. People say really interesting things when weathered under the atmosphere of Betrayal.

This entry was posted by Martha Lavey on Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 8:50 am and is filed under Betrayal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.