Deathtrap

Reviewed by Neal Weaver

At Sierra Madre Playhouse

Through February 20

RECOMMENDED

Playwright Ira Levin’s Deathtrap became the longest-running thriller in Broadway history, playing for nearly four years — topped only by the London production of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, which seems destined to run forever. And Levin’s other works are not to be sneezed at: they include such trifles as Rosemary’s Baby, A Kiss Before Dying, The Stepford Wives, and The Boys From Brazil.

Here, the moral is “Murder begets murder, or blood will have blood.” It’s a theme dear to the heart of Shakespeare, who used it in many plays, and filmmaker Fritz Lang relied on it in almost all of his movies.

Levin’s central character, Sidney Bruhl (Christopher Cappiello) is a writer of thrillers who had one great hit, followed by a series of humiliating flops, which has led to severe writer’s block. Adding insult to injury, he has just received in the mail a near-perfect murder mystery by a young former student of his, Clifford Anderson (David Tolemy), called Deathtrap, which bears a startling resemblance to the play we are watching.

Inflamed by envy and rage that a much younger writer should achieve the success that is denied to him, Sidney begins hatching a plot to murder Anderson, and claim the play is his own. Sidney’s wealthy wife Myra (Shaw Purnell), whom he’s been living off for years, protests in horror, but there’s no stopping Sidney. He brutally murders the young man, and enlists Myra’s aid in burying him in the vegetable garden.

But this is just the beginning, and things are not what they seem. What follows provides endless surprising revelations, as many twists and turns as a barrel of pretzels, and as many ingenious meta-theatrical tricks as the collected works of Tom Stoppard. Joining in the fun and mayhem are Don Savage as Sidney’s urbane lawyer, and Karesa McElheny as a daffily eccentric Dutch psychic, Helga ten Dorp, who lives next door.

Director Christian Lebano has assembled a top-notch cast and put together an impeccable production. He’s particularly inventive in the second act, so that even someone who has seen the show before and knows what’s coming (like this writer) is taken by surprise. He emphasizes the melodrama, making the murders so over-the-top that they’re funny rather than gruesome. And the fights are excitingly staged by Ken Merckx.

Cappiello’s Sidney is acidulous, vain and cold-bloodedly witty, with a knack for gallows humor. As his nervous wife, Purnell outdoes Hollywood scream-queen Evelyn Ankers in a finely modulated performance. And Tolemy scores as a young writer who’s not nearly as naïve as he seems. Actress-director McElheny is a hoot as the loony psychic, and Savage is appropriately wily as Sidney’s lawyer. The uncredited music is agreeably ominous, and John Vertrees’ splendid set is decorated with antique weapons, from maces, halberds, and daggers to swords, crossbows and snickersnees, courtesy of fight choreographer Merckx.

Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Boulevard, Sierra Madre; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.; Thurs., Feb 4, 2:30 p.m.; through Feb.20. (626) 355-4318, sierramadreplayhouse.org. Running time: approximately two hours and 40 minutes with one intermission.