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Henry Hitchings's rating
, Fun and games in Deathtrap
By
Henry Hitchings
8 Sep 2010
The comedy thriller is not exactly staple West End fare these days but Matthew Warchus’s enjoyable revival of Ira Levin’s 1978 play Deathtrap suggests that the genre still has legs.
It’s anchored by a superb performance from Simon Russell Beale. He plays Sidney Bruhl, a middle-aged playwright currently in desperate need of a hit. He teaches in a provincial American college, and one of his students seems to have produced an embarrassingly brilliant new drama.
That student is Clifford Anderson, played with genial charm by Glee star Jonathan Groff. Clifford calls on Sidney and his put-upon wife Myra at their remote country home. His desire to win his teacher’s approval provides Sidney with the opportunity he requires — perhaps for collaboration, but maybe for a less healthy kind of competitiveness or even chicanery.
Levin’s extravagantly plotted script is full of ingenious self-reference. It’s also outrageous; it strains credibility and appears thoroughly knowing about doing so. The result, besides a lot of good laughs, is a series of boldly theatrical and frankly camp moments, sometimes very silly yet perfectly calculated to jolt audiences out of their seats.
Warchus has done a characteristically nice job of dusting off a somewhat creaky period piece and imbuing it with vitality. Claire Skinner is suitably fussy and awkward as Myra. Groff has a natural innocence — and also flintiness when his role demands it. Rob Howell’s design is lavishly detailed, memorable especially for the disquieting array of weaponry on show.
But it’s to Russell Beale that we’re unerringly drawn. He makes Sidney pugnacious, finicky and nimble, as well as donnish and vulnerable. Again and again there are lovely scintillas of detail: a wonderfully horrid moment of gurning incredulity, a really poisonous dart of wit.
There are disappointments. Estelle Parsons fails to convince as the Bruhls’ clairvoyant neighbour, and at times the writing’s humour sags. The most grating feature is a plot recap near the end, which feels wholly unnecessary.
Yet the snaky deviousness of the storytelling and Russell Beale’s protean contribution are substantial virtues. Deathtrap may not be a show for those who expect their theatre to be intellectually exacting, but its brand of unapologetically giddy entertainment makes it sure to be a hit.
Until January 22. Information: 0870 850 9175.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (3)
A super fun evening at the theatre wwwwwith a great cast and set.
- sue, Hindhead, 08/09/2010 15:10
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The play was so good would of happily sat through it all over again. Truly brilliant
- Selwyn Channon, Epsom, 08/09/2010 13:24
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Disagree entirely about Estelle Parsons. Her comedy timing is second to none.
- Tom Moncrieff, London, England, 08/09/2010 12:33
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