Mind you, there are mitigating circumstances. Sigrid Thornton has not performed in this space before. In fact, she has never performed in professional theatre. Her role, as Emma, the adulterous wife in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of Harold Pinter's 1978 three-hander, Betrayal , is her stage debut, which is surprising considering her long list of film and television credits. A sea change, but with small letters.
People are often surprised.
For some years, I've been waiting for the right theatre thing. The longer I put it off, the more loaded-up the decision seemed to become. She finally said yes to Betrayal , not only because she thinks it is a great play, but because of its structure, which is very similar to where we are backstage. There's a surface simplicity, but full of complexities underneath. The theme of betrayal encapsulates all sorts of betrayals, not just that of a marriage.