Aidan Redmond, who plays Jerry in MST’s production of BETRAYAL, talks about the play.

So, how do you like Hoboken?

I like it, a lot.

How are rehearsals going?

Going well, enjoying the process and preparing myself for continued discoveries to reveal themselves as we move into performance. Rehearsals have recently moved into the theatre and the play has naturally begun to breathe life into the space. I think we’re in for a real treat once we finally bring it all together.

You’ve worked on Pinter before. How does Betrayal compare with the other work you’ve done on a Pinter play?

I worked on Pinter many years ago when I studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute here in New York. Pinter is notoriously specific with his speech patterns and a similar approach to the physical embodiment of the work, works. Like Beckett, Pinter puts great emphasis on punctuation and the pause, which serves the play in a manner which would be left more of the actor to dictate in another work by a different playwright. For example, actors often cross out all stage directions before tracing their character through the action of the play. With Pinter, the actor is conditioned to perform the play more like interpreting music. You cross nothing out. You interpret through strict adherence to the truth on the page in front of you.

The Method school of thought focuses primarily on the psychological condition of a character in a certain physical state at a given time and place. The attention to detail found in both the writing and the approach worked well together. For the audience, the fact that the action moves forward by going backwards in ‘Betrayal’ is both curious and challenging. We know a great deal about the characters by the time the beginning of the affair is revealed and yet it is the end of the affair between two characters we know nothing about which opens the play. Its only upon reflection that we, as an audience, can begin to join the dots…

What have been the challenges with Betrayal? What have been the pleasures?

Three challenges come to mind…

One of the the greatest challenges has been negotiating the relationship between Jerry and Robert. Here we have two old friends who have been deceiving each other throughout many years of both personal and business relations. Understanding their relationship, in light of these deceptions, is key.

Another challenge has been not to watch the film version of the play. I’ve wanted to but I don’t necessarily want to be influenced by it. The truth for the actor lies in the language, I’m sure. Pinter wrote the screenplay and worked closely with the creative team on the film. If there is a definitive interpretation, the film is probably it. However, I think if one trusts the language, in fact if one sticks rigidly to this script, inevitably the same truth appears on the stage. The truth of the play is whatever the actor, paying close attention to the line, says it is.

Third challenge, how to drink all that iced tea and apple juice without having to use the bathroom every 15 minutes.

Working on the play has been the pleasure, working with talented people. I feel very fortunate to be working with Chris and everyone at Mile Square Theatre.

You’re from Ireland and trained at Trinity College. Is there a difference between the way Americans approach the work in the rehearsal hall and the way its done across the pond?

I’d like to hear our director’s response to this one! At Trinity, as with a number of theatre companies both here and in Ireland, the playwright is more often held as the ultimate interpreter of his/her own work. By this I mean that it is the story we ultimately honor as performers. The emphasis in Ireland is on story. When I studied at Strasberg, the emphasis was now on character. Ultimately it amounts to the same thing, but the work is more character-centric in America. Since any play is about given characters in a given situation, the actor’s job in the rehearsal room remains the same, namely to serve the story to a fault by finding the truth in the character and the world that he or she inhabits. I think we are going to continue to find things in this play right up until the moment the lights go down on the final performance. It truly is a great piece of writing. There will be performances where both actor and audience will be discovering a moment for the first time together. That thought of that is an exciting one to me.

Aidan Redmond Bio —Aidan is delighted to be working with Mile Square Theatre. Favorite roles include playing Henry in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, directed by Cailín Heffernan (Boomerang). More recently Aidan has collaborated with Sabra Jones and The Greensboro Arts Alliance, playing Mr. Gilmer in their production of To Kill A Mockingbird. Off Broadway, Aidan performed alongside Stephan Rea in Sam Shepard’s Oedipus Variations—A Particle of Dread, directed by Nancy Meckler (Signature). Also as Mike Glavin in Sive, directed by Ciarán O’ Reilly (Irish Rep). Performances with The Mint Theatre Company include Teresa Deevy’s Wife To James Whelan and Temporal Powers, both directed by Jonathan Bank. Aidan made his Broadway debut playing the role of Dr. McSharry in Michael Grandage’s Tony-nominated revival of Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan. Film/TV: “79 Parts”, “Daylight”, “I Sell The Dead/Dare Devil”. Originally from Ireland, Aidan is a graduate of The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College, Dublin and the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York.