Bath Evening Chronicle - 07 May 2002
Deathtrap
Theatre Royal, Bath
A PLAY within a play, double cross, deceit and more twists than a Chubby
Checker retrospective, Deathtrap was subtitled a classic thriller and the
description didn't disappoint.
To set the scene, a washed up playwright hasn't had a hit since his one
classic play more years ago than he wishes to remember.
But then, through the post arrives the manuscript of a brilliant thriller
called Deathtrap written by an aspiring playwright seeking guidance from the
old master.
What should the struggling old-timer do? Offer assistance, turn the young gun
away and hope that the inspiration that has deserted him for so long makes a
miraculous reappearance or perhaps something far more sinister?
The result is spellbinding, comic, surprising and completely entertaining.
And much of the credit for this belongs squarely on the shoulders of David
Soul's utterly convincing and dominating portrayal of Sidney Bruhl, the
struggling, has-been playwright.
Still best known as one half of the '70s cop duo Starsky And Hutch, Soul's
more recent preference for British-based stagework serves him well as he
wears the world-weary guise of Bruhl with an apparent compassion and glint
of recognition.
Alongside Bruhl, Gerald Kyd's athletic, enthusiastic script writer
wunderkind is played with just the right level of self-loving, full of beans
confidence so as to make him the audience's favourite target for a grizzly
demise.
Completing the trio of central characters, unfortunately Susan Penhaligon is
the least comfortable of the three to watch, failing to add to the
subtleness that Soul is able to bring to his character when required and
preferring instead to rely on exaggerated mannerisms and less convincing
characterisation.
Throughout, the pace of the action is unstoppable, with the audience unable
to help but take to the murderous plottings of the self-serving Bruhl.
While all the action takes place in Bruhl's studio, filmed snippets between
the scene are introduced to create a certain degree of continuity as the
plot unfolds.
Whether these are quite necessary or not is debatable.
While the final twist for the two main characters might perhaps be one
surprise too much, a final comic conclusion with the re-introduction of the
play's other less central two characters at least sent the audience home
with a well-earned grin on their faces.
All in all, however, Deathtrap is a success and worthy of the continuing
applause first granted to a production that debuted back in 1978.
(From the Bath Evening Chronicle - www.thisisbath.com)