Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...It's by no means a major or an entirely successful Steppenwolf revival, but it offers challenges and food for thought. You might not agree with all the choices, but you find that you respect their richness. And there are some deliciously malevolent line readings and brilliant little actor-driven moments from Letts and Morton that will surely snap you to attention."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...in a sharply etched revival by Steppenwolf Theatre, "Betrayal" unspools in reverse time with various crucial stops along the way as events between the years 1968 and 1977 come into sharp focus. The whole process takes just 70 minutes, but the story -- one of the oldest in the annals of male-female relationships -- lacks nothing in specificity or in the web of emotions it conjures."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Harold Pinter's stinging look at marital infidelity - which uses reverse chronology to tell the story of an ill-fated extramarital affair - gets a solid revival at Steppenwolf Theatre under director Rick Snyder. His cast - Ian Barford, Tracy Letts and Amy Morton - who have a flair for the playwright's terse, ambiguous dialogue; trademark pauses (defining moments where silence speaks volumes) and the sense of menace (expressed here as well-mannered unease) that infuses his plays."
SouthtownStar - Highly Recommended
"...At only 1 hour and 10 minutes, this sparse drama, with amazing performances from an extraordinary trio, brings the dishonesty, pain and guilt that come with the dissolution of love, marriage and friendship into devastating relief."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Under Rick Snyder's direction, Tracy Letts as Robert, Amy Morton as Emma, and Ian Barford as Jerry mine the dry humor and quiet pain in the characters' brittle chitchat, as Pinter illuminates the way people use language to compartmentalize their emotions."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Directed by Rick Snyder, this is a piercing three-voice micro-symphony of rejuvenation spinning into disillusionment, a chamber piece of sex, lies and the sort of brightly burning joy that makes the world seem grayer, sadder and just a bit more futile after it is extinguished. And while the title is singular, the deceptions that propel Betrayal are many."
EpochTimes - Recommended
"...Directed by Rick Snyder, who has cast these three solid and dependable actors to make what might otherwise be a simple story told in a different way, become a story that holds your attention; a production that makes you want to know even more and as it all does come out see that the affair that took place was not what it was meant to be from the very onset..."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...Pinter’s reverse-chronology drama hits hardest when characters don’t say what they’re really saying. Snyder’s production likewise fares best at such moments, as when Letts places his bare foot on Morton’s. The exposed vulnerability of that skin-on-skin contact contrasts piquantly with the seemingly invulnerable, proper-English dialogue."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Steppenwolf Theatre’s short 70 minute Pinter work features three top level actors, Ian Barford, Tracy Letts and Amy Morton, exhibiting smooth stagecraft in a subtly nuanced relationship piece. The chemistry among the three, especially between Letts and Morton, offers opportunities for deep seated connections. All three glibly render Pinter’s poetic and vague language marvelously."
