A review I read before going to see Betrayal said that Pinter’s “plays famously include long pauses and silences that can feel interminable to audiences if not handled with care.”

Had I not read that review, I wouldn’t even have noticed any such delays. As it is, maybe one or two. Certainly never enough of an interlude to grab a snack in the lobby. Credit to the director and cast? Or difference of opinion as to what qualifies? I don’t know.

Before seeing the production, I was thinking that maybe I made a mistake in not pursuing an acting career, specializing in Pinter. Given a long enough gap between lines, I might have had time to recall my dialogue, or sneak a peek at crib notes on my sleeve, before my turn arose.

Moreover, the anguish in my expression as I tried to remember what to say might have been interpreted as, or confused for acting.

As an audience member, I could use long pauses when watching Shakespeare, as they would give me time to figure out, or look up on my phone, what I had just heard. Of course that would lead to interminably long shows, which was not a problem in this 75-minute production.

Helen Hunt and Robert Sean Leonard were the draws, and they were fine, but, frankly, not special enough to induce a recommendation from me. Fortunately, however, though the play is considered a drama, there were some good laughs, because I just didn’t care about the characters.

An interesting side note about this play with a backward timeline is that the audience wasn’t sure that it was over until a minor character walked onto the stage alone to take the first bow.