Murder and mayhem
Deathtrap snares a positive response from critic
REVIEW
DEATHTRAP
Vertigo Mystery Theatre
Runs until October 20
Calgary Science Centre
The famous playwright Sydney Bruhl has a string of successful murder mysteries to his name, but he can’t come up with a new play. When he receives a sure-fire script in the mail from a novice playwright, he begins toying with the idea of stealing it and bumping off the author. So begins Deathtrap, the durable ’80s thriller filled with scheming villains, plot twists and murder.
There is enough assorted mayhem (stabbing, shooting, bludgeoning) to make this a full evening of gruesome delight, but the real draw is Stephen Hair as the devious Sydney. He dominates this production at Vertigo Mystery Theatre, dripping sarcasm, plotting dire deeds and manipulating everyone around him. Hair last visited Deathtrap from the director’s chair in 1994 and clearly he brings a thorough knowledge of the entire play to his performance. Those who know Hair best from his annual appearances as Scrooge in Theatre Calgary’s A Christmas Carol will find this a fun-filled change of pace.
Director Mark Bellamy offers his own stylish touch to this production, too, with a strong cast that carries us from one surprise to the next. Jesse Gervais is the would-be playwright, Clifford Anderson, a quick-witted foil to Hair’s Sydney – he makes every new variation of their ever-changing relationship believable. Heather Lea MacCallum is nearly manic as Sydney’s chronically nervous wife Myra. Local favourite Valerie Ann Pearson provides comic relief as the outrageous Helga Ten Dorp, a psychic who arrives at the most inopportune moments with one-liners and predictions of danger, and Stanley Argue-Simes completes the cast as Sydney’s solid lawyer buddy, who provides plenty of useful exposition about insurance payments and death benefits.
Every murder mystery depends on unexpected twists and turns of plot. From the safety of the audience, we are constantly trying to guess the next development, and we become co-conspirators of a sort. Deathtrap doubles and triples this excitement by having the playwright plotting out events in front of us. Sydney crafts his murder scheme as he would a play he was writing, trying out this possibility or that one. We can almost envision that his backyard is filled with the bodies of novice playwrights who have provided his previous hits. When Clifford arrives, things become even more complicated as he provides yet another version of events.
Designer Scott Reid has created an impressive version of Sydney Bruhl’s study, decorated as a tribute to his writing career. The walls have posters and weapons from his many hit plays forming a shrine to Sydney’s ego. The various guns, knives and handcuffs have the added advantage of being a constant macabre presence hinting at the nastiness to come.
Deathtrap is an excellent choice to kick off Vertigo’s "Salute to the Pleiades Theatre" Season. It’s a trip down memory lane for those of us who saw the Pleiades production in 1994 or the Alberta Theatre Projects production 20 years ago at the Canmore Opera House. This is a tightly written classic of the murder mystery genre, one that has been imitated often but rarely equalled. While the play is a blast from the past – the ancient pre-computer days when a writer juggled ribbons and carbon paper to produce work from his typewriter – this production will nevertheless surprise any audience. |
