DEATHTRAP Reading Set for Connolly's Public House in Oak Park

Oak Park Festival Theatre will present a reading of Ira Levin's DEATHTRAP in in the back room of Connolly's Public House, 1109 South Blvd, Oak Park on May 3, 2017 at 7 p.m. $12 cover (purchase here) includes a complimentary drink ticket.

Deathtrap is a play written by Ira Levin in 1978 with many plot twists and which references itself as a play within a play. It is in two acts with one set and five characters. It holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway and was also nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. Deathtrap was well received by many and has been frequently revived. It was adapted into a film starring Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine, and Dyan Cannon in 1982.

Seemingly comfortably ensconced in his charming Connecticut home, Sidney Bruhl, a successful writer of Broadway thrillers, is struggling to overcome a dry spell which has resulted in a string of failures and a shortage of funds. A possible break in his fortunes occurs when he receives a script from a student in the seminar he has been conducting at a nearby college-a thriller which Sidney recognizes immediately as a potential Broadway hit. Sidney's plan, which he devises with his wife's help, is to offer collaboration to the student, an idea which the younger man quickly accepts. Thereafter suspense mounts steadily as the plot begins to twist and turn with devilish cleverness, and with such an abundance of thrills and laughter, that audiences will be held enthralled until the final, startling moments of the play.

Oak Park Festival Theatre - Oak Park's Equity theatre and the Midwest's oldest professional theatre performing the classics outdoors - is currently celebrating its 43rd year of theatrical excellence producing outstanding productions of the plays of William Shakespeare and other classical authors, as well as important contemporary plays by some of the world's greatest playwrights.