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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Willoughby’s Fine Arts
offers a dull-edged ‘Deathtrap’<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d"><FONT size=3>Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d"><FONT
size=3>News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d"><FONT size=3>Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">This review will
appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">on
10/26/12</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">“Pain!!!!”
screeches Helga, the </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Scandinavian</SPAN><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic" lang=EN>
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">psychic
in Ira Levin’s “Deathtrap,” as she enters the stage and senses murder most
foul.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>It is likely that she is also picking up on the vibe from the audience
during this very tepid Fine Arts Association production of this comedy
thriller.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>The premise of
“Deathtrap” is that middle-aged murder mystery writer Sidney Bruhl is in need of
a killer idea. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Once the toast of
Broadway, Sidney is now void of creativity and desperate to maintain the wealth
and stature to which he and his wife have grown accustomed.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When a young, unknown playwright sends
him a script to die for, the has-been writer sees a lethal opportunity to claim
the work as his own. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In a creative
twist that blurs the line between fact and fiction, the script in question lays
out the very plot of the play in progress.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“Deathtrap” ran for over four years on
Broadway in the late-1970s, but it is not an easy play to do well or to do on
the community theater stage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
class=lightblue3><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">It requires
performers capable of sustaining suspense while delivering with a straight face
all the imbedded </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>self-</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">deprecating
references to murder mysteries the play has to offer</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>The cleverly devised twists and turns need to come out of nowhere, with
the formulaic conventions employed for their creation camouflaged by the
eloquence of their execution.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>This Fine Arts production falls short in these areas.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=lightblue3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>Bill
Brady tries hard to balance Sidney Bruhl’s acerbic wit, air of entitlement and
evil intentions, but he is neither </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333">dramatic nor energetic
enough in his choices to keep things interesting </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>on
stage. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Chase Thomson, as the
enigmatic<SPAN style="COLOR: #292727"> </SPAN>young playwright Clifford
Anderson, gives us little more than a line reading in his delivery.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Preoccupied with their own precarious
endeavors, no relationship between the two is ever established.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>The audience is left watching their exploits but not investing
emotionally in them over the course of the evening.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Without an emotional investment, there
is no suspense.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Without suspense,
the comedy intended to relieve it falls flat. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Without the comedy, it is a long evening
indeed.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Because Brady and Thomson offer so little for Amy Broich to play off of,
her portrayal of Sidney's neurotic and physically frail wife lacks viability and
vitality.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>By comparison, Marcia
Mandell is way over the top as the psychic Helga ten Dorp, performing as if in a
different—albeit more entertaining—play than everyone else.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Only Robert McCoy as Sidney’s attorney, Porter Milgrim, comes out
unscathed in this production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>However, his character is fairly inconsequential to the play’s
proceedings, serving only to raise doubts rather than drive the drama.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Another of his functions is to provide a
plausible ending to this play, which made him one of the most popular actors on
stage during the opening night performance.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>Director James Mango is ultimately responsible for the dull edges on the
many weapons the playwright provides, but it is clear from how he places his
players on stage that he gets the genre and has a clear vision for how this play
should unfold.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Mango is also the
set designer for the gorgeous Connecticut cabin that houses the </SPAN><SPAN
class=lightblue><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bruhls</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>,
providing a space for this play that is, unfortunately, sturdier and more
impressive than the performance occurring within
it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>“Deathtrap” runs through
October 28 at the Fine Arts Association’s Corning Auditorium in Willoughby.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For information or tickets, which are
$20, call 440-951-7500 or visit<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></FONT><A href=""><FONT color=#0000ff
size=3>www.fineartsassociation.org</FONT></A><FONT
size=3>.</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN class=lightblue><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>