Review of the Fulton Theatre Deathtrap Production

I had been warned to not become familiar with the past production of Deathtrap because it spoils all the fun of the production, so my expectations for this production were null. I expected one of the traditional thrillers that the Fulton Theatre is notorious for around Halloween, or an Agatha Christie/Hitchcock type of production. Instead, I was surprisingly delighted with a comedy-thriller, having a perfect balance of comedic timing with thrilling suspense.

Ira Levin’s Deathtrap was written in 1972 as a traditional thriller with 2 acts, one set, and 5 characters. Do not let the word “traditional” make you think the plot is boring or stale,  AND do not let the fact that there are only 5 characters to one set make you think that the play is too simplistic. There is a lot to be said of the fine tuning of the 5 characters to the one set. The plot kept me guessing, and just when you think you know what is going to happen next with a predictable plot line, Deathtrap throws you back into guessing what could happen next, which is a character of any good thriller. The characters played well into this suspense, by using clichés for their comedic timing, then throwing in the fear factor by doing something completely unlike the character you just got to know. Just like my favorite Helga ten Dorp, the psychic famous for pointing out murderers to the European police had all the predictable and cliché like lines that you would expect for a hokey European psychic. Helga’s look and mannerisms were so funny and cliché but then despite all her future predictions that became true she turns and does that even she would not predict.

My favorite part of the production was the set design. Deathtrap takes place in the study of Sidney Bruhl, the principle character, and is a handsomely converted stable grafted onto an authentic colonial house. I would love to live in this house and I can see why Sidney Bruhl desperately did not want to give up his house or lifestyle that comes with it. The Fulton set designers could not have made this set any more perfect, in fact I want that study for my own, but obviously I would need my computer that I am attached to since the production takes place in 1982.  The Deathtrap film took place in 1982 so the Fulton decided to keep with the 1982 theme with the style of hair, wardrobes, and props. So the set had a regular writing desk and land phone. Sidney Bruhl is a “has-been” thriller play writer, so he had quite the collection of antique murder weapons covering the wall. This impressive collection of weapons from a medieval time period to a Jack-the-Ripper era made both the set and Sidney Bruhl more interesting.

I do not wish to give away any “spoilers”, so I can not go into any detail of some of the events, but I must give my regards to The Thunderstorm. I love to sit under my covered porch and feel an oncoming thunderstorm with the lightning, the wind rattling the trees and bushes, the hair on my arms standing on end, the possible danger involved if I don’t move to a safer place, all the while I don’t dare move a muscle for fear I will miss the drama and excitement of the darker and unpredictable source. The Thunderstorm in Deathtrap was so realistic that it brought me back to this place. The sensation of the storm and the timing was perfect.

The director Charles Abbott was wonderful playing the character Patsy in Spamalot. I wish he would have had made a cameo in this production as a nuisance of a neighbor, pestering the Bruhls’ for something stupid like a cup of tea at precisely the wrong time. The audience seemed to laugh at inappropriate times and kill the budding intensity of a coming thrilling series of events in the first act on opening night.  And something seemed to interfere with Gayton Scott’s portrayal of Myra Bruhl’s fragility. Again I am not sure if the audience laughing at the comedy portions of Deathtrap ran too long into the tension/thriller portions of the production and marred the delivery of the Myra’s traits and predicament.

I do recommend this play to get in you in the mood for “ghostly” time of year. I do not recommend getting too much background info on Deathtrap and its plot before attending the show though. Please enjoy the wonderful fall.