‘Old Times’ is another Pinter puzzle

‘OLD TIMES’: (left to right) Clive Owen, Eve Best & Kelly Reilly. Photo: Joan Marcus

OLD TIMES
Written by Harold Pinter
Directed by Douglas Hodge
Through November 29, 2015
American Airlines Theatre
227 West 42nd Street
(212-719-1300), www.RoundaboutTheatre.org

By David NouNou

“Gaze” and “lest” are two words that are bandied about in the current revival of Harold Pinter’s play Old Times. Perfectly normal words but not commonly used in today’s vernacular. Although the play and its setting feels totally today, the play actually debuted in 1971 and it reminisces back 20 years to 1951 when the English movie Odd Man Out was released, starring Robert Newton. You might ask yourself why I’m giving you all this information and my response to you would be we are dealing with Harold Pinter.

The premise is really quite simple. Deeley (Clive Owen) and his wife, Kate (Kelly Reilly), live by a seaside town in England, awaiting the arrival of Anna (Eve Best), who was Kate’s roommate 20 years ago in London. The ensuing 70 minutes are about who knew whom back then, who met whom and who was who. Who remembers what, ah memory, how awful the tricks it plays on you. After all, Pinter’s plots, like a jigsaw puzzle, appear simple on the surface but don’t fit together that easily, but if you care to scratch deeper and want to exert the effort, you’ll have to work your brains out to find a modicum of a plot that makes sense.

When one sees a Pinter play, one has to accept the fact that Pinter lived in an alternate universe. That universe is great for actors to play in, but hopefully real people don’t really have to live in it or speak its language. In Old Times, like a lot of Pinter plays, body language is as important as the spoken word. The eyes have a special language of their own. They play an important role here. The bodies, like the language, move in a staccato, rigid and arched manner, and when seemingly defeated, they crumble and appear lifeless. Each pair of eyes is both seductive and seducing. There is a constant thrust and parry to the proceedings.

Clive Owen, making his Broadway debut as the passive/aggressive husband, Deeley, is remarkable. Simultaneously you want to be ravaged by him and at the same time comfort and ease his anguish. Eve Best, as Anna, the predator/seducer, is beguiling, and any man or woman could fall under her spell. Kelly Reilly’s Kate is radiant as the dormant/manipulative wife/ex-roommate. Needless to say, the performances are in full throttle.

Although everything seems simplistic on the surface, it is a bumpy ride. It is up to the viewer to disseminate what is real and in the present, and what is a memory that may or may not have happened. Or is the past a memory game that the players feed off each other and embellish on? It’s not enough to listen to the dialogue; you have to constantly gaze at the shifting eyes and the staunch bodies lest you might miss a clue along the way.

‘OLD TIMES’: Kelly Reilly & Clive Owen. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘OLD TIMES’: Eve Best & Clive Owen. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘OLD TIMES’: (left to right) Kelly Reilly, Eve Best & Clive Owen. Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published October 11, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on October 10, 2015