Harold Pinter wrote Old Times 43 years ago, the first of his full-length plays to be evidently unreal. In other hands, this would be a conventional ménage à trois – three people, a married couple and their friend, talking about their past.
Kate and Deeley are challenged by Anna with conflicting accounts about their involvement with her. Fair enough. But Pinter torments us with the idea that their memories are deliberately false.
The playwright is exploring how memory can be exploited and under Steven O’Shea’s direction, the cast dive deep and relentlessly to the point of destruction.
Jim Calderwood is the husband, a successful film-maker comfortable enough until Anna arrives. It is heart-breaking to watch him as he is destroyed by her. Janice Jones is elegantly outgoing, amusing, manipulative – and deadly– in the role.
Red Gray’s Kate is a dignified performance, almost a spectator until drawn in for the kill. Not a relaxed evening but a well-played one.
Anna assures Deeley, “I came here not to disrupt but to celebrate.” In fact, she does both. But is she telling the truth? Who knows? The rules are far from clear when it comes to playing games the Pinter way.
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