Programme Note #1: Deathtrap
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JB wrote “Welcome!
I love a good murder thriller and love to sit in the audience trying to work out who did what, who murdered who and why. So much so that my friends sitting near me tell me to be quiet and just let it all play out. But what I really love is a murder thriller that does not go the way you thought it was. A play where just when you think you have worked it all out, you find that you are hopelessly going down the wrong path and a sudden twist sends you reeling down another avenue. That’s Deathtrap for you.
Ira Levin has created a masterpiece in deception, taking innocent dialogue with hidden sinister meanings, plot reversals, twisting and turning leading to unexpected events and conclusions. Five characters, one play and they all want glory. But the thing that most adhered to me to the play was the fact that the script that they are all quibbling over is the very play you are watching.
I have loved directing Deathtrap, not just because of the clever writing, but because I have been fortunate to have a stellar cast, all experienced on the stage, all coming with a wealth of ideas and excellent characterisation. I also manage to bring together many of the same crew as I worked with on my last murder mystery for the Wick. Clue: On Stage.
None of whom battered an eyelid when I asked for help in sourcing guns, knives, handcuffs and a crossbow!
I must make a special mention of Suse Crosby, my producer, who kept me sane, persuaded me to read the script in the first place, and saw that vision of what this play could be just as her character in the play does!
So sit back, enjoy, feel free to try and work out who did what and who murdered who: but be ready, because you are going to be wrong …”
Review #1:
Publication: Brighton Source
Publication Data: September 16 2024 issue – published on-line
Reviewer: Mike Aitken
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This is a play about a play. It’s also about a play that is – or isn’t – being written. It all depends on who is writing it and who is stuck with writer’s block.
It doesn’t end there. It’s also about who did what, who killed whom, and how on earth are we all going to get out of this mess?
So, what’s the play all about? The whole performance takes places in Sidney Bruhl’s (Guy Steddon) study in Connecticut, USA during the late 1970s. Sidney – the supposed senior – looks at his typewriter but barely touches a key. In fact, he hasn’t typed a word all day, or for several days, or maybe much longer than that!
Meanwhile, the arrival of one of Sidney’s bright students – a young man called Clifford Anderson (Jake Marchant) – is studiously typing in the study without ever stopping or missing a key. The words are pouring out from Clifford’s typewriter. It’s beginning to get on Sidney’s nerves. Who wants to be upstaged by their own younger side kick?
In fact, it looks as if the text being so innocently typed on stage might even be the play the audience are watching right here in Southwick! Surely not? That’s getting us too close to postmodern complexity.
Whose play is this, we might ask. Or is the whole play and plot just one big joke? We might ask Julian Batstone – our excellent and canny director – but watch out for axes and murders!
Is it possible that Sidney might get too wrapped up in his own jealousy and ineffective prose? Worse still, maybe his young understudy, Clifford – dressed in a very suitable smart black suit – might just get on the wrong side of a real whodunit murder. The eye contact and body language tell their own malicious story. The plot doesn’t just thicken – it boils.
Ira Lewin’s previous form for murky stories have included film scripts such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Stretford Wives. But ‘Deathtrap’ – written in 1978 – has been seen as a particularly successful two act comedy thriller. It was adapted as a film version in 1982 featuring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.
To make sure he won’t be traced, Sidney bins any earlier manuscripts that young Clifford has typed. He then drives to the station to pick up the young prodigy writer. He’s ready to plagiarise all of Clifford’s existing writing – and then delete the originals. Sidney reckons, that while he’s at it, why not also ‘delete’ (aka murder) the upstart writer altogether?
Meanwhile, Sidney’s attorney, Porter Milgrim (John Garland), reckons he’s seen Clifford locking the crucial manuscript in the desk drawer. The murder stuns Myra (Anna Quick) who collapses while Helga Ten Dorp (Susanne Crosby) starts having visions.
On the night of this high-octane performance of ‘Deathtrap’ the wind and rain were howling around the Barn Theatre. This seemed in empathy ¬– or collusion – with the play’s complex, dramatic and interwoven themes.
Top class theatre on your doorstop!
Review #2:
Publication: NODA
Publication Data: 11 September 2024
Reviewer: Keith Smithers
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“Deathtrap” is an excellently written play about two writers who collaborate to produce a murder thriller plot. Or is it? Maybe it is a murder thriller written by Ira Levin and the action of the play enfolds before us. Whichever it is, it is in the mindset of the audience member to work out what is real and what is being set.
This excellent playwriting was equalled by five accomplished actors, all of whom acted their parts with absolute aplomb.
The first playwright Sidney Bruhl (Guy Steddon), had not had a successful acceptance for a script for many years and is being subsidised by his wife’s wealth. This man’s serious but calculating nature was portrayed by Guy most effectively throughout as the evil and greed took over his persona.
The devoted wife, Myra Bruhl (Anna Quick), sympathetically played the faithful and obedient spouse up to the point when she realised he could become a murderer, by when it was too late as her demise had already been carefully planned by him.
Clifford Anderson (Jake Marchant), formerly one of Sidney’s students, coped with ease the large amount of dialogue that the part required with several twists and turns in temperament before the two of them receive retribution for the earlier crime.
Helga ten Dorp (Susanne Crosby), the neighbour from hell and “Mystic Meg” of the production was creating problems for the two writers as she was able to see their actions through her psychic powers. She spoke in a convincing Germanic accent and provided the moments of humour in this dark tale.
Porter Milgrim (John Garland) was the solicitor who had no inkling of the intended murders and only became embroiled when Helga had spilt the beans to him. He also joined the bandwagon in the queue for the money.
The scene for the story was a Sidney’s study – complete with guns, swords, handcuffs and other deadly implements. It was a very well thought out set with the entries and exits in just the right places for the complicated actions sometimes required by the cast. The technical side, sound and lighting were most efficiently executed. Even the apposite opening music (à la Murder She Wrote) pre-cursed the fact that that the evening would revolve around a murder plot.
Congratulations to all on stage and the whole production team.
