I saw the the play "Betrayal" by Harold Pinter in Spring 1980 in New York, The cast was Raul Julia, Blythe Danner and Roy Scheider. They were great! The play does take place in reverse chronological order.
Betrayal - The Play
S09E08 The BetrayalliveNov 22, 19972 days later5 posts by 5 posters
🧩 Trivia
Fans discuss the literary references in "The Betrayal" episode, noting parallels to Harold Pinter's play of the same name and other works using reverse chronological structure.
5 posts
Forom The International Movie data base: Plot Summary for Betrayal (1983)
Pinter's semi-autobiographical play examining the surprise attraction, shy first steps, gradual flowering, and treasonous deception of a woman's extramarital affair with her husband's best friend; the entire story is told from the husband's point of view, with the scenes in precise reverse chronological order.
This puts the ep in a whole new light; I'd missed this entire reference. Man, I need to turn off the TV and do some reading. Feeling sheepish here.......PS, I love the touch of naming the groom "Pinter"
On Sun, 23 Nov 1997 05:55:38 -0500, "The News Guy-(Mike)" wrote:
Steven Truitt wrote in message ...
Very interesting reference. Thanks!
In case nobody's pointed it out yet, I'll add that the idea of putting the scenes of a play in reverse chronological order goes back at least to Kauffman and Hart's "Merrily We Roll Along," first produced (I believe) in the 1930s and adapted as a Stephen Sondheim musical in 1981. Unfortunately, neither version works any better than the Seinfeld episode did (though the Sondheim version has a terrific score).
Great concept, but almost impossible to pull off.
--Chris
All in all I liked it..Some I hope will be pleased that it wasnt so "over the top" ( episodes that I happen to like also ).
I dont know if anyone mentioned it..but the TV show China Beach did it once also....it involved Riki Lake...and a pregnancy/abortion plot... very nicely done also..
I'm back..