DEATHTRAP, Levin, touring till 8 June
DEATHTRAP: Ira Levin
Runs: 2h 20m, one interval, touring till 8th June 2002
Review: Rod Dungate, Belgrade Coventry, 28 February
Densely and ingeniously plotted thriller, but this 70s thriller creaks: time has moved on
The main character in Ira Levin's 70s thriller is a writer of stage thrillers going through something of an unfertile period. He earns a bit of cash teaching and one of the things he tells his students is that plotting is everything. Taking a leaf from his main character's book, Levin's play is densely and ingeniously plotted.
As scene follows scene the play twists and turns with such rapidity that, were you not securely seated, you would surely get so giddy you'd fall over. But there are more than twists and turns – this play turns inside out: the two leads (master and his student) write up the play they are characters in as a thriller for the stage with themselves as characters in it.
This is all great fun and there are some great shocks. But at the end of the day this revival of a thriller set in the times of typewriters and carbon copies is more of a resuscitation. The sad fact is that in this day and age plotting is not all. Modern thrillers are interested in fully rounded characters, warts and all, their motivations and their psychological make-up.
The characters in DEATHTRAP lack the necessary richness that gives a play lasting appeal and interest. The story lacks the grand design that underpins , for instance, Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives, such design keeps the work endlessly fresh. So DEATHTRAP creaks more than a little, the characters seem thin and their relationships unbelievable.
David Soul brings a natural casualness to Sidney Bruhl which makes Sidney as real as he'll ever be. Gerald Kyd brings youthful charm to the new young writer, Clifford Anderson. But there is no electricity between the two to even suggest there is anything other than a working relationship between them (which there is supposed to be.) Becky Hindley as the dotty psychic neighbour, Helga ten Dorp, makes two welcome appearances. She deserves all the laughs she gets – her timing is immaculate.
Maybe in 20 or 30 years the play will have matured into a real period piece of charm, at this distance, though, it feels enormously old fashioned.
Cast:
Sidney Bruhl: David Soul
Myra Bruhl: Susan Penhaligon
Clifford Anderson: Gerald Kyd
Porter Milgrim: Stewart Bevan
Helga ten Dorp: Becky Hindley
Director: Peter Wilson
Design: Andrew Leigh
Sound: Rod Mead
2002-03-01 16:47:29