Deathtrap

What if murder writers ditched their mighty pens for swords and committed the crimes they create?

Penned in 1978, Deathtrap is Broadway’s longest-running comedy-thriller. Director Jo Turner has done a rip-roaring job of bringing to life Ira Levin’s crazy-clever production for the Sydney stage. After 18 years of writer’s block, accomplished playwright Sidney Bruhl (Andrew McFarlane) has a  bank account begging. So when young Clifford Anderson (Timothy Dashwood), a student from one of his seminars, sends him the manuscript of a fantastic play, Bruhl realises he’d quite literally kill for the fame and fortune it could bring.

The country ranch set is impeccably designed – the shiny wooden furniture, schmick typewriters and the eerie wall of torture complete with maces, crossbows and pistols – and becomes a character in its own right, arguably the star of the show and heightening the suspense to every onstage action. It’s all a bit like Cluedo: what next, with what and to whom.

McFarlane shines as Sidney, who switches between dastardly and paranoid. Dashwood is dashing as double-denim Clifford, as eager as he is willing. More than a pretty face, he’s a stark contrast to Sidney’s jumpy wife, Myra Bruhl (Sophie Gregg), whose placation of her genius husband is expertly shown by her painful tip-toeing in court shoes. The melodrama turns to madness with Bruhl’s psychic neighbour Helga Ten Dorp (Georgina Symes), whose predictions simultaneously evoke hilarity and mystery. Just add Sidney’s opportunistic lawyer Porter Milgrim (Drew Fairley) for that extra bang.

The first act, in all its spooky soundscape, eerie lightning and grating shocks, is superior to the second but that’s the point. This super meta-play toys with the creative process and it’s effect is a funny little fear fest. 

Bring a mate or a date to squeeze when you squirm.