own definition of a free press: “One thatnis edited by one of my relatives.” WhennWagner hints at another one-nightnstand, Ruth replies:n”A lady, if surprised by melancholy,nmight go to bed with a chap, once;nor a thousand times if consumed bynpassion. But twice, twice … a ladynmight think she’d been taken for antart.”nThe mood turns somber when newsncomes that Milne, while covering thenfighting, has been machine-gunned tondeath. Bemoans Ruth:n”He died for the women’s page, andnthe crossword and the racing results!”nBut the most telling reaction to Milne’sndeath comes in these lines, clearly reflectingnone-time journalist Stoppard’snown view:n”Information is light, kiformation innitself, about anything, is light.”nWhile the two newsmen shape Stoppard’snargument on press freedom andnresponsibility, it is Ruth (film and TVnstar Diana Rigg) who dominates thenplay with her wondrously expressivenvoice, her bitchery, and, above all, hernincandescent presence.nHarold Pinter’s new play drew mixednreviews and should be seen from twonangles: for more than a year he has beennworking on a film scenario for MarcelnProust’s classic novel Remembrance ofnThings Past, and he admittedly has beennliving since 1975 with biographer AntonianFraser, who is not his wife. Hisnplay is called The Betrayal and dealsnwith adultery. It is structured progressivelynbackward, beginning with thenfinal scene—a requiem drink betweenntwo ex-lovers in 1977—to the abandonmentnof the London flat where theynused to meet furtively in the afternoon,nto a scene in Venice where the Husbandninforms the Wife that he knows of hernaffair with his Best Friend, to the rentingnof the flat originally, and finally tonthe party where Wife and Best Friendnmet in 1968. The story between thosendates—1968-1977—involves a series ofnbetrayals. The Best Friend is marriednand is cheating on his wife; the Husbandntoo has been seeing other women. Butnthe main betrayal concerns the Husbandnand the Best Friend. After the Wifenbetrays her Husband with the BestnFriend, the latter comes to feel betrayedntoo, because the Wife did not tell himnthat the Husband had learned of thenaffair in midpassage. Pinter unfolds hisnplot slowly and with dry wit. He proceedsnby dramatic inference, as is hisncustom, and he employs small talk whichnrings true (“Don’t get upset . . . there’snno point . . . I’ve always liked him . . .nYes, I thought that”). At no time doesnhe glamorize the affair, revealing insteadnthat infidelity leads to emotional bankruptcy.nHeading the murder-mysteries arenthree veteran works by Agatha Christie:nThe Mousetrap (now in its 27th yearnon the London stage), A Murder IsnAnnounced, and Murder at the Vicarage.nJoining these are two new mysteriesnby American playwrights, whichnhave drawn very favorable critical reviews.nIn Deathtrap, a thriller which isnalso a satire on thrillers, playwright IranLevin has his hero Sidney Bruhl describenthe perfect murder-mystery:n”Two acts, one set, five characters, anjuicy murder in Act I, unexpectednPersuasion At Work—NoX. Ill, No. 1, January 1980:n”THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY SHOOTING ITSELFnIN THE FOOT AGAIN”nnndevelopments in Act II, sound construction,ngood dialogue, laughs innthe right places, highly commercial.”nSidney Bruhl is a middle-aged writer ofnstage thrillers who has lost his touch,nand who sees a chance to recoup whenna former student in his seminarnsends him a script that is a sure hit.nSidney upsets his wife (who has heartntrouble) with serious talk of doing awaynwith the student in order to send thenscript off as his own. The student is invitednup to Sidney’s Westport, Connecticutnhome for the weekend. A murdernis committed—or is it.’nPaul Giovanni, the second Americannplaywright, brings Sherlock Holmesnout of retirement in The Crucifer ofnBlood, a highly theatrical thriller basednloosely on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’snThe Sign of the Four. From its initialnsetting in Delhi at the height of thenIndian Mutiny (1857), the action movesnahead 30 years to London’s 22 IB BakernStreet. Holmes, Dr. Watson, and InspectornLestrade quickly become involvednin the mystery of a stolenntreasure. Dialogue is crisply Victoriannand there is a blood oath, as well asnpoisoned darts, an atmospheric opiumnden in Limehouse, a rousing lightningnstorm, and a pulse-escalating chasenwith Holmes and Watson in a policenlaunch in eerie pursuit of the culprit onna fishing vessel on the fog-shroudednThames.nAmong the many classic revivals ofnthe season, a standout was A Fair Quarreln(1616) by Thomas Middleton andnWilliam Rowley, a tragicomedy set innJacobean England and concerned withnthe honor theme. Captain Agar is insultednby the Colonel, who claims thatnhe is the son of a whore. The Captain,nfanatically honor-conscious, reaches fornhis sword, but then decides to delaynresponding until he can talk with hisnmother. The latter, fearing her son willnbe killed in any ensuing duel, admitsnfalsely that the charge is true, hencenher son is not justified in dueling. Later,nwhen the Colonel insults the Captainnm^^^m^^mmmmmnJanuary/February 1980n