BWW Reviews: DEATHTRAP Blends a Murder Mystery Thriller with Comedy

Reviewed Thursday 20th March 2014

The Therry Dramatic Society is starting its year with Deathtrap, a murder mystery that gradually turns comical. The play was written in 1978 by Ira Levin (1929-2007), who would be more widely known for his works that made it to film, including The Boys from Brazil, Rosemary's Baby, No Time for Sergeants, and The Stepford Wives. It was made into a film in 1982, starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.

Sidney Bruhl, a murder mystery playwright with several successes behind him, a long way behind him, has not had a play produced for years and survives by lecturing and drawing on his wife Myra's almost exhausted money. Clifford Anderson, a student from one of his seminars, sends him a script with a request that he look it over and offer advice. One look tells him that it is a sure fire hit. He becomes jealous, and his wife becomes increasingly more concerned as she comes to realise that he intends to steal it and pretend it is his own, even if it means killing the younger writer.

Director, Ian Rigney, has the wisdom and experience to know that assembling the right cast is imperative, and also takes a lot of unnecessary work out of the rehearsal process. There is no denying that he got that part right with this production. It is not merely a case of finding five good actors, though, but five good actors who are of one accord, resulting in a coherent production, as we find here in Deathtrap.

Matthew Randell and Sue Wiley play Sidney and Myra, placing two highly experienced performers opposite each other in these key first act roles. They create a pair of very believable characters but, more importantly, establish a superb rapport that gives the clear impression of a married couple who have been together long enough to be comfortable in each other's company. The two deliver their lines with great skill, causing the balance of power to subtly shift to and fro as each character tries to take control.

James Edwards is the unsuspecting budding playwright, Clifford Anderson, in a nicely balanced performance that does not telegraph any hint of what is to come. He presents a nice transition from the enthusiastic new writer to the wary and nervous man as the scene progresses helping to build the tension and uncertainty of how the meeting will end.

Lindy LeCornu appears as the neighbourhood Dutch psychic, Helga ten Dorp, who is not quite as dotty as Noël Coward's Madame Arcarti, but gets close at times. LeCornu is another performer with experience to spare and she knows how to make her character larger than life without going too far and becoming a caricature.

Tim Taylor plays Porter Melgrim, Sidney's Attorney, a straightforward role, the character helping to move the play forward at certain times. Taylor gives Melgrim an appropriately conventional, solid citizen characterisation, making him the sort of person that you just know would be out of place at a party and no doubt bore anybody who attempted to converse with him.

Vincent Eustace's set is extremely impressive, adorned with a huge collection of weaponry, from flintlock pistols to automatics, from bows and arrows to crossbows, a wide range of swords and knives, and a couple of pikes. The set itself is very detailed and look solid enough to be a real, well furnished and lived in room. Denise Lovick's lighting design ensures that every detail is seen.

In a post-modernist approach, the play carries out a deconstruction of itself using the play with the play, sending itself up a little in the process. There are twists and turns and red herrings galore, and plenty of laughs to keep the audience entertained, in a production that is a credit to the company and all concerned.

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