Deathtrap

Deathtrap is bloody good fun, with emphasis on the “bloody”. Written in 1978 by Ira Levin, author of Rosemary’s Baby and The Boys from Brazil, it is a twist-filled comedy thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Calum MacLean plays washed-up playwright Sidney Bruhl, a man who’s willing to go to any lengths—including murder—to recoup his former success. Bruhl has a dry wit and way with words, and MacLean has a lot of fun with the caustic one-liners. Peter Gant plays a brilliant and boyish wanna-be playwright who is the target of his mentor’s envy. Michele Moore does a wonderful turn as Bruhl’s nosey neighbor, a flakey but accurate psychic. Add two more good performances, one by Debora Pollock as Bruhl’s dangerously supportive wife and another by Valerie Mackenzie as his smitten lawyer, and you have an entertaining evening of murder and mayhem. –Kate Watson