One senses something amiss even before the curtain rises, as there is an oppressive music pounding away during the waiting time. When the curtain does rise, we see a huge background of swirling lines as if in a modern painting, perhaps meant to indicate swirling emotions to come. The look is a long way from the converted farmhouse Pinter gave as his setting. We also get flashes of lights ad sound effects to match. And in the background is a strange construction that we later learn contains a bath. The overall impression is the opposite of Pinter’s sparseness.

We immediately see the married couple, Dooley and Kate, and although she is not yet due to appear in the text, Anna positions herself, back to the audience, in front of that encased bath. (In Pinter’s stage direction, she is supposed to be standing by a window.)

Anna, who is visiting the couple, is ridiculously dressed in a stylish outfit of the sort one might wear to a chic London or New York party, not for a day in the country. Also, contrary to the taut intimacy inherent in the play, the actors are often spread far apart on the wide stage, working against the interplay that is the basis of Pinter’s enigmatic exploration of relationships. So much for the misbegotten staging.

This brings us to the acting, and that enhances the revival. It is a pleasure to see Clive Owen, whom I have admired repeatedly in films, in his Broadway debut. As Deely, Owen has a strong stage presence and expertly handles Pinter’s dialogue, whether muted or impassioned.

Kelly Reilly, also in a Broadway debut, is commandingly attractive as Kate, and she injects intelligence into her line readings, as well as uses her movements to grab our attention and establish her character. Eve Best as Anna is excessively flamboyant. However, she and Reilly get their looks at each other right, as well the glances that also involve Owen as Deely, meaningful stares that dovetail with the classic Pinter pauses.

I would like to see this cast in a lower-key staging in more compressed space. That would make it much easier to contemplate what the play is about and the questions raised. Did Deeley and Anna know each other in the past more than indicated in the tension between them? Did Anna and Kate, who once roomed together, have a sexual relationship or at least a sexual attraction, indicated by their getting very close and affectionate at one moment in the play? Jealousy abounds among all three in the tension springing from Pinter’s set-up.