Deathtrap

 Deathtrap is a comedy-thriller written by Ira Levin.

The Story line centres around Sidney Bruhl, a playwriter who has had success with several Broadway Thrillers, but is now having a dry spell.

An aspiring writer, Clifford Anderson, whom he met at a seminar, has sent Sidney a script to asking him for his advice. Sidney thinks that the script has great potential and together with his wife Myra they hatch a plot to steal Clifford’s idea.     Helga Ten Dorp a rather eccentric spiritual medium, adds humour to the play as she claims to able to foresee the future and Sidney’s lawyer, Porter Milgram, also adds to the plot

The versatile Barrington theatre allowed the production team to build and dress a very nice looking set, that worked very well. The evening proved to be very entertaining, both amusing and enthralling, as the very complex storyline twisted and turned, with a surprise which led to several members of the audience gasping out with shock. The script was certainly very wordy and must have been quite a challenge for the five very able and talented cast members to master, but their delivery was virtually flawless throughout and their diction was excellent.

The character of Sidney was on stage for the majority of the play and I thought it was a very impressive performance. Helga Ten Dorp was a relatively minor role that was a wonderful over the top characterisation

In my personal opinion, like so many plays, the writer of Deathtrap seemed to run out of steam and ideas in the second act and although the last scene was well performed, the play changed from being a thriller into a bit of a farce.

Overall it was an excellent production with a very high standard of performance which both my Wife and I really enjoyed . It was also very well received by what seemed to be a near capacity audience.

Our congratulations go to all concerned.

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