IT is difficult not to admire the cleverness of Bolton Little Theatre's new production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal.

The plot spans several years and follows the adulterous love triangle of Jerry (Stuart Shaw), Emma (Helen Price-Aindow) and Robert (Barry Hall).

The play starts with Jerry and Emma meeting up a couple of years after their seven-year-long affair has ended. To make things complicated both were married throughout their affair to other people -- Emma to Jerry's close friend Robert.

A journey back through time then starts and different scenes from during their affair are enacted. Each scene reveals different sorts of betrayals -- friendships, marriages , professional relationships -- as more details about the characters come to light.

The production is so clever because it has many tense, ironic, dramatic and even darkly humorous moments despite the fact the story unfolds against a very minimalistic set, just a table and two chairs, and much of the "drama" lies in the dialogue between the characters.

Staged in the BLT's Forge Theatre, the play is set in the round, emphasising the intense atmosphere as the relationships of three friends comes under the microscope.

One thing I would point out though, is that to enjoy this play you must be prepared to concentrate on every word that is spoken. Many of the lines that are said come to take on a more significant meaning as the play goes on and if you miss even the most seemingly trivial line the play may become hard to follow.

The play was staged and acted brilliantly. My only criticism is the ending -- which seems to happen rather abruptly, but this is a fault of the script rather than the BLT team.

Roger Williams