The hit London production of Betrayal made its Broadway debut last night as Zawe Ashton revealed she and co-stars Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Cox formed such a close bond they got nicknamed “the throuple”.
The premiere of the emotionally charged Harold Pinter play was met with a standing ovation and cheers at the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre in Manhattan by an audience that included US Vogue editor Dame Anna Wintour, Girls creator Lena Dunham and Pinter’s widow, the author Lady Antonia Fraser.
The production transferred to New York following a record-breaking run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End earlier this year. Lady Fraser, who saw the play five times in London, said before the performance: “It’s absolutely wonderful and I love New York. I wanted them to share this marvellous production.”
Ashton, whose screen credits include Channel 4 series Fresh Meat and Netflix horror film Velvet Buzzsaw, plays Emma in the revival of the 1978 play, directed by Jamie Lloyd.
Ashton, 35, from Hackney said: “Everyone who’s been around us knows we’re all profoundly attached to each other and we actually had a nickname at the beginning which was ‘the throuple’, because we used to move like a small shoal of fish, whether it was going to get a coffee or leave to go home.” She added: “When you’re one woman in a play with all men, there’s an ingrained part of you because of past experience where you sort of put your boxing gloves on ready to be like, ‘Right, I’m going to fight for my space and I’m going to make sure that I’m heard’, and I didn’t need them.”
The play was met with largely positive reviews, with The New York Times praising its “elegance” and “aching profundity”. Vulture described it as a “lean and sexy revival”, while Variety said its approach was “beautifully bleak”.
Last night marked the Broadway debuts for all three of the main cast members, who remain on stage for the duration of the show.
Ashton is also making her New York debut as a playwright next month when her play “for all the women who thought they were Mad” opens at off-Broadway theatre Soho Rep.
Tom Hiddleston at opening night of Pinter's Betrayal - in pictures
