Clive Owen comes so close to having sex onstage

THE stars of “Old Times” always look like they’re a second away from having sex. Clive Owen, Eve Best and Kelly Reilly generate such heat, you may need a cold shower after the show.

But then it’s also rare that you’d need to cool off at a show by Harold Pinter, the British playwright famous for mind games and maddeningly vague plots. Of course, nobody actually gets down to dirty business in “Old Times,” which is about three people whose past relationships collide with their present ones.

But when does this all take place, and where? Who’s doing the remembering? No matter: The game here is all about ultra-smoldering looks between Owen and Best — and between Best and Reilly. An ominous score by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke adds to the creepy-sexy vibe.

This may be his Broadway debut, but Owen — now starring as a Victorian-era genius surgeon in TV’s “The Knick” — radiates a confident masculinity. His Deeley is the kind of guy who can get away with manspreading, and he’s perfectly matched with Best, a voluptuous panther, and Reilly, she of the frostier sensuality.

Altogether, the three generate genuine sexual chemistry. You may not know what it all means, but the message comes through: Game on!