Deathtrap delivers delicious twists at Everyman Theatre
Bruce Randolph Nelson makes a point with Beth Hylton in Deathtrap. (ClintonBPhotography)
You’ve got to hand it to Vince Lancisi and the company at Everyman Theatre. With holiday decorations hitting store shelves in some places as early as August and Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time playing on the radio well before Thanksgiving, who isn’t thinking murder by now?
Murder – with more twists than a candy cane – is key to Ira Levin’s shockingly hilarious comedy-thriller Deathtrap, the latest offering by Everyman Theatre.
Flawlessly directed by Lancisi, Deathtrap first opened on Broadway in February 1978 then ran for 1,793 performances – a record for a comedy-thriller. A 1982 film adaptation of the play starred Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.
The storyline of Deathtrap starts out surprisingly simple.
When the curtain rises, an accomplished mystery playwright (who has not had a hit for some time) is agonizing over a manuscript. What bugs him is this sure-fire winner was written – not by him – but by a former student. Sensing a chance for some easy money, the playwright and his wife hatch an outrageous plan to steal the story by doing away with the naive younger writer. But there’s a duplicitous hitch in the plan which creates a delicate domino effect, and for the next two hours the audience is left to wonder, “What could possibly happen next?”
Without giving away the store, what follows is bloody entertainment.
Being a play about playwrights and the theatre, it should come as no surprise that Deathtrap delivers a fair share of quips with the haggard writer in mind.
Consider these gems of dialogue between the frustrated playwright Sidney Bruhl and his malleable wife Myra ~
Myra: Is (the play) really that good?
Sidney: I’ll tell you how good it is. Even a gifted director couldn’t hurt it.
And ~
Myra: Would you actually kill someone to have a successful play?
Sidney: Don’t be foolish dear – of course I would.
Later, when Myra suggests Sidney consider producing a purloined play, he replies, “I may be devious enough to commit a murder, but I’m not devious enough to be a Broadway producer.”
Perhaps not devious enough, but Sidney is definitely jealous of his former student’s natural talent, noting with disdain, “The son of a bitch even TYPES well!”
Clearly, Sidney has an axe to grind. And a mace. And a knife. And a crossbow arrow. All readily available for a green-eyed misanthrope with murder in mind.
It is no secret that Everyman has a stable of terrific actors in residence, so filling this cast with stock players is like presenting a holiday homecoming.
Baltimore favorite Bruce Randolph Nelson stars as the plotting playwright Sidney Bruhl. Nelson (who appeared earlier this season in Centerstage’s production of Amadeus), makes the most of his character’s cynical side, then moves with ease between assailant and perplexed paramour.
Equally at ease with his multifaceted character is Danny Gavigan as Sidney’s former student, Clifford Anderson. You feel genuinely sorry for Gavigan’s Anderson in the opening minutes of the play – then equally sorry for anyone that crosses his path.
Beth Hylton does a fine job portraying the surprisingly two-faced Myra Bruhl. Deborah Hazlett has a hilarious go at the capricious clairvoyant Helga Ten Dorp.
The ever changeable Wil Love ably fills out the five-person cast as Sidney’s affable lawyer, Porter Milgrim.
On the creative side, it is evident that fight choreographer/weapons designer Lewis Shaw had a lot of fun with this show. Who wouldn’t – with two brawls and a house chock full of implements meant to murder and maim. Credit set designer Timothy R. Mackabee for coming up with so many fiendish weapons (we don’t even want to ask how).
The lighting designer Jesse Belsky colors the set with an appropriately eerie feel, while sound designer Stowe Nelson supplies a healthy dose of comically creepy moments.
For Helga Ten Dorp, dialect Coach Gary Logan has Hazlett doing a vague eastern European accent. This could easily come across as cliched, but it works to rib-tickling perfection when Hazlett drippingly offers lines like, “In dis room, dere is pain!”
One critical note for the stage manager: look for blood when re-setting the stage. It strains credulity if the audience can see blood splatters on the furniture, walls, lampshades, etc. but the actors pretend it’s not there.
Deathtrap may not be traditional holiday fare, but it is a welcome tonic for the three month old tinsel. Many thanks to Everyman Theatre for pulling the trigger on this laugh-filled comedy-thriller and in the process scaring the Dickens out of Baltimore.
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Everyman Theatre’s production of Deathtrap runs now through January 11th. Running time is two hours and thirty minutes with one fifteen minute intermission. The theatre is located at 315 W. Fayette Street in Baltimore, Md. Tickets and other information may be found by calling 410-752-2208, visiting Everyman Theatre online.
Anthony C. Hayes is an actor, author, raconteur, rapscallion and bon vivant. A one-time newsboy for the Evening Sun and professional presence at the Washington Herald, Tony’s poetry, photography, humor, and prose have also been featured in Smile, Hon, You’re in Baltimore!, Destination Maryland, Magic Octopus Magazine, Los Angeles Post-Examiner, Voice of Baltimore, SmartCEO, Alvarez Fiction, and Tales of Blood and Roses. If you notice that his work has been purloined, please let him know. As the Good Book says, “Thou shalt not steal.”