The Lover

Foolhardy Actors Company at Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft

Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 25 September 2012

Harold Pinter’s little-performed early play seeps realistic-unreality, comic irony and nervy menace from ordinary life.

Will Isgrove directed Sharn McDonald and Thom Bailey masterfully playing the outwardly sophisticated couple relishing erotic games to enliven their marriage.

Their daily fantasy is that she entertains an afternoon lover while he goes to work and meets a whore. Then the husband tires of inventing roleplays and wants to stop, but she doesn’t.

He then switches back to pretending the adultery, as the relationship becomes more intense, repressive and strangely intimate.

The piece is a measured roller-coaster of tangled emotion, with early hints of pause and ear for natural, circular dialogue that later made Pinter famous.