The stereotype of the British stiff upper lip gets quite a workout in Harold Pinter's "Betrayal." In Pinter world, even when lovers are engaged in adulterous relationships, emotions are kept close to the vest. But pay attention because in the best productions - and this one featuring three first class actors most certainly is - there's a tidal wave of emotions roiling beneath the surface and the unspoken is louder than anything they can say. 

With tremendous economy of both word and action, the lead characters whip up quite an intricate web of deceit and passion. Outwardly, they’re stoic. Inwardly, those famous Pinter pauses, brimming with subtext, speak volumes. 

We first meet Emma and Jerry, both married to others, but we find out they had a torrid seven year affair that ended several years earlier. Then we meet Emma's husband Robert, who’s Jerry’s best friend. The interaction is stiff. Does Robert know about the adultery? Does he even care? Through a series of scenes that jump back and forth in time, Pinter provides tantalizing clues about the relationship between these three. 

Director Jamie Lloyd shrewdly strips away all but the bare essentials in this production staged on an empty set for the most part with only a few props. It forces a laser focus on the dialogue which, in its spareness, requires the actors to fill the void. And they do with exquisitely subtle precision and fine-tuned humor in the most unexpected places.

Charlie Cox as Jerry is oblivious to the collateral damage his affair has caused. So too Zawe Ashton's Emma, who blithely carries on despite the disruption to her marriage and family. As Robert, Tom Hiddleston has his own secrets. Fans of Hiddleston's blockbuster films get the added pleasure of discovering the movie star is even more thrilling to watch on stage.

"Betrayal" is an engrossingly intimate portrait of spouses and friends in the throes of adultery.  By play's end, it's poignantly clear that the three characters will have to pay a steep price for their dishonesty.

What could so easily come off like soap opera in lesser hands rises in this production to the level of modern tragedy.