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The Wily Pinter Woman

by Zoe Strimpel
Thu, 21 Feb 2008 at 1:47 PM

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Maybe it was because it was the same night as the Brit Awards. But the Comedy Theatre was strangely empty last night, which was odd given the delectable nature of the show and London's voracious appetite for well-reviewed theater. We were there to see the Harold Pinter double bill of "The Lover" and "The Collection," each first seen on TV — in 1963 and 1961, respectively. (There has been a Pinter extravaganza in town for a while now, with "The Hothouse" recently finishing up at the National and the new "The Homecoming" at the Almeida).

"The Lover" is a perfectly formed play about sexual fantasy and propriety, and about the strains of making room for both in one marriage. The enormously talented Gina McKee (perhaps best known for playing Hugh Grant's disabled friend in "Notting Hill") plays the shifty (and ultimately powerful) Sarah to a T. She and her husband, Richard, played by Richard Coyle, are a well-to-do married couple living just outside London. They have a special understanding, however. In the afternoons, between 3 and 6 o'clock, when Richard is meant to be at work, a lover comes to the house. They discuss this openly, Richard saying things like: "Is your lover coming today, dear?" But assumptions are turned on their head when the lover, also played by Mr. Coyle, arrives. Hang on: The lover and the husband are one and the same!

Richard begins to crack toward the end, finally unable to accommodate the split between sexual fantasy and marriage that the couple depends on. The play ends with Sarah coaxing him (on the verge of tears) back to his role as lover. The Pinterian woman is able to slide between roles and sexual spheres; she is all wily versatility, while the man is weak.

"The Collection" stars Ms. McKee again as a sphinx-like woman, whose story of infidelity with Bill (Charlie Cox), a man she meets on business in Leeds, drives her husband, James (Mr. Coyle), to confront him. But Bill tells a different story, and as he does so, James finds himself fascinated by him. The homoeroticism here is pronounced; Bill is obviously bisexual or gay, his partner being the lovable old Harry (Timothy West), who likes to say that he found Bill in a slum.

There is a wonderful moment when Bill lies pinned under James, staring up at his crotch, each of them clearly relishing the moment (and the power play). Ultimately, though, for all the masculine tussling, the woman is the one lording it over the truth, and the play ends with James in a torment of doubt.

These dramas are exquisite studies on the power of imagination in relationships — both destructive and liberating.

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