Harold Pinter is a British playwright and theatre director. He wrote several plays including The Caretaker, in 1960, which brought him most of his recognition. Towards the end of his career he directed more and more frequently. In 2005, Pinter announced that he was retiring from writing plays to dedicate himself to political campaigning. Later that year, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, but could not attend the ceremony due to his throat cancer.

Betrayal, written in 1978, is about the disintegration of a love affair between Emma and Jerry. The play travels backwards through time; the first scene of the play takes place after Emma and Jerry's relationship has already dissolved.

In this scene, Emma visits Jerry after returning from a vacation. By the end of the scene the couple realizes that their affair cannot go on. Betrayal is an experimental play, with very few words and many significant pauses, which presents a problem for the actors. They must learn how to use what little text is given and make the pauses seem natural and essential.

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