Deathtrap by Ira Levin, Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth until 14 September 2024.

5✩✩✩✩✩. Review: Cormac Richards

 “A first-rate production of a thriller”

When it comes to stage thrillers, Ira Levin’s ‘Deathtrap’ is one of the big hitters. The 1978 play had lengthy runs on both the Broadway and West End stages. Many writers have tried to emulate the twists and turns of the plot, but barely anyone has achieved the same results. The play actually picks out other top-notch thrillers in its story; ‘Sleuth’ and ‘Dial M For Murder’ both get mentioned as the story of a washed-up playwright, who has hit a brick wall, indulges in cat and mouse games with a younger, inexperienced, but highly talented protégé.

Levin’s many layered, but lucid plot, plays with the audience as the two writers collaborate on a play called ‘Deathtrap’ with the same plot as the one they are watching. It is clever, smart, admirable and ever so slightly smug. It is, above all, tremendously entertaining.

Andrew Beckett’s set design is, once again, brilliant and the building of it and its dressing by James Prendergast and Rhys Cannon is faultless – the level of detail is of the highest level; Bruhl’s writing room adorned with posters from his plays and a wonderful array of weaponry used in them. Throughout atmospheric, minor key music is used to blend the scenes and effectively build tension of which there is plenty.

Despite the fact that this is a thriller, it is also very funny; the juxtaposition of the thrill and the comic moments is so well crafted that the one highlights the other, bringing gales of laughter one moment and gasps the next. When the thrills come they send energy around the auditorium causing a certain amount of seat-jumping! Jason Moore brings all these moments out brilliantly, his exemplary direction ensures there is plenty of pace in the wordy set-up and lulls the audience into a false sense of security, before giving them both barrels from his thrill-gun when required.

The role of Sidney Bruhl fits Dominic McChesney like a glove; the whirring brain cells as he plots his next move can be read in the sly smile and the horrified stare. It is a wonderful character, full of self-pity and deviousness and McChesney is fairly dribbling at the jowls as he delivers the many choice, sarcastic and satisfying lines. He is matched by Gwithian Evans as the young upstart, Clifford Anderson; innocent and in admiration to begin with, but when the plot thickens, the character develops radically; this is a performance of great strength and Evans is utterly convincing. The two work the kind of magic on stage that you don’t see too often, their confrontation in Act II is sublime. A better double act you would be hard pressed to see elsewhere.

Bruhl’s wife, Myra, plays a pivotal part in the story and Victoria Waddington gives depth and character to the less showy role with a wonderful range of facial expressions. Left-field casting gives us Laura Mead as the wildly eccentric psychic Helga Ten Dorp; played for full comic effect, it works rather better than one might think. James Pellow offers some gravitas as Bruhl’s attorney Porter Milgrim; his seriousness unmasked as the play concludes.

This is a first-rate production of a thriller which has entertained for nearly fifty years – its longevity a testament to the writing – its effectiveness a testament to director, cast and crew working in perfect harmony. Thrilling.

Cast

Sidney Bruhl – Dominic McChesney

Myra Bruhl – Victoria Waddington

Clifford Anderson – Gwithian Evans

Helga Ten Dorp – Laura Mead

Porter Milgrim – James Pellow

Creatives

Writer – Ira Levin

Director – Jason Moore

Design – Andrew Beckett

Lighting & Sound Operation – James Prendergast

Costume Designer – Jan Huckle

Set Builders – Rhys Cannon & James Prendergast

Props Supervisor - James Prendergast

Photo Credit – Rhys Cannon

Artistic Director - Paul Taylor-Mills

Season Associate Producer – Andrew Beckett