BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

So sayeth Sir Walter Scott, and so teacheth famed British playwright Harold Pinter in his semi-autobiographical play, “Betrayal,” at the Everyman Theater through June 24.

“Betrayal” offers a fresh perspective on the old story of the lovers’ triangle. Emma (Deborah Hazlett) conceives a seven-year affair with Jerry (Whalen J. Laurence), her husband Robert’s (Timmy Ray James) best friend and colleague. This seed of betrayal spews forth more lies and deceits, like spiderlings from an egg sack.

Lies are linked to memory, as the liar is saddled with the maddening task of keeping his made-up stories straight. Pinter helps create this sense of tumult by making his play non-chronological.

Emma and Jerry’s affair is built on an initial burst of passion, but if love is there, we are witness only to its ashes.

It has been said that in Pinter’s plays, what is said is often not as important as what is not said.

Pinter teaches us that lies are like tiny acts of murder, because they rob us of the truth, the beauty of our memories, of our friends, our lovers and ultimately our own self-respect.

IF YOU GO

Betrayal, by Harold Pinter, directed by Donald Hicken

» Venue: Everyman Theater, 1727 N. Charles St.,

» Times: Tuesdays to Sundays, through June 24.

» More info: 410-752-2208; www.everymantheatre.org