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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"><span style="color:rgb(255,153,0)">••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><br><span style="color:windowtext"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style><span style="color:windowtext">Roy Berko</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><font size="1"><span style="color:windowtext">(Member: Cleveland Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association)</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style><span style="color:windowtext"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Overheard at intermission of “DEATHTRAP” at Great
Lakes Theater:<span style> </span>“I never expected
that to happen!”<span style> </span>Response:<span style> </span>“I’ve seen this before and what’s
coming up in the second act is even more surprising!”<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Yes, “DEATHTRAP” may be a somewhat dated script but
it still grabs and holds an audience.<span style>
</span>In spite of references to dial telephones, the Merv Griffin TV show, the
Great Kreskin, such plays as “SLEUTH,” and “WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION,” and
people like Hal Prince, David Merrick and George Abbott, the humor and intrigue
of the 1978 script hold up. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The material is masterfully written by Ira Levin.
Yes, the same person who crafted “ROSEMARY’S BABY,” “THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL,” and
“STEPFORD WIVES.” It holds the record for being the longest running comedy-thriller
on Broadway.<span style> </span>It was nominated for
the Tony Award for Best Play and was made into a classic movie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Picture this:<span style>
</span>A famous mystery playwright (Sidney Bruhl) has run into a dry
spell.<span style> </span>His writer’s block has
resulted in financial and marital problems.<span style> </span>A former student (Clifford Anderson) has sent him a script
entitled ”DEATHTRAP,” which is ready for production.<span style> </span>Sidney jokingly suggests to his wife that he murder the
student and have the play produced on his own.<span style> </span>When he finds out that there is only one copy of the script,
Sidney invites the student to his Westport, Connecticut home.<span style> </span>The student arrives and . . . </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Come on, you don’t expect me to blow the many plot
twists and turns and ruin the surprises for those who haven’t been exposed to
Levin’s devious mind.<span style> </span>Just be
aware that there is a clairvoyant, a handsome student, a wife with hidden
money, pain, lots of knives, a crossbow, a fireplace, some guns, a double desk
with locking drawers, a lightening storm, a lawyer, and a couple of blackouts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The Great Lakes production, under the direction of
Charles Fee, is well paced. <span style> </span>Rather
than over-exaggerating, Fee wisely lets the script’s finely written lines play
on their own. <span style> </span>The laughter emanates
from the words, rather than from pratfalls and tomfoolery.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Tom Ford well develops the role of Sidney
Bruhl.<span style> </span>He fully inhabits the role.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Nick Steen makes Clifford Anderson a real
person.<span style> </span>He has the handsome good
looks of Christopher Reeve, who played the role in the movie, and the muscular stature
to make the physical exertions of the role believable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Local actress Tracee Patterson, who was spotlighted
by the Cleveland Critics Circle in 2013 as the Best Actress in a Non-musical,
is totally believable as Bruhl’s excitable wife.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Lynn Allison has the difficult task of making Helga
Ten Dorp, the psychic, into a person who is laughed with, not at.<span style> </span>The part is often over-played, making
the character farcical.<span style> </span>In Allison’s
hands, the many laughs wisely result from her subtle character development.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Aled Davies is fine as Porter Milgrim, Bruhl’s
lawyer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The technical aspects of the show do much to enhance
the quality of the production.<span style>
</span>Russell Metheny has created an interior of a lodge that creates a
perfect visual setting.<span style> </span>Rick Martin’s
lighting is spot on.<span style> </span>Richard
Ingraham’s musical interludes nicely highlight the mystery aspects and the
storm sequences create the perfect storm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"><span style> </span></span><i style><span style="color:windowtext">Capsule judgement: “DEATHTRAP” is a fun mystery filled with
plausible twists and turns that incites the curiosity of the audience in their
attempt to figure out what’s going to happen next.<span style> </span>The GLT’s production, under the direction of Charles Fee,
brings out the best in the script and is a must-see for anyone interested in a
delightful escapist theatre experience.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><i style><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">DEATHTRAP
runs from February 21-March 16, 2014 at the Hanna Theatre.<span style> </span>For tickets go to: </span><span style>216-664-6064 or </span><a href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org/"><span style="color:windowtext">www.greatlakestheater.org</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:rgb(255,153,0)">••••••••••••••••••••••</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none">
<br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><br><a href="http://www.greatlakestheater.org/"><span style="color:windowtext"></span></a><span style="color:windowtext"></span></p>
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