THEATER REVIEW
“Deathtrap”
Grade: C
Through Nov. 24. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays. $25-$35. Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest St., Roswell. 770-641-1260, www.get.org.
Bottom line: None too thrilling.
Sidney Bruhl may be suffering from a prolonged “dry period” — it’s been 18 years since he wrote “The Murder Game,” the smash-hit thriller that put him on the Broadway map — but he still knows a surefire success when he reads one.
After he receives the only other copy of a thriller written by a student from one of his many playwriting seminars, Sidney sees that the script has all the makings to be an enormous blockbuster. And he isn’t kidding, as it turns out, when he tells his wife he’d kill to have another hit like that.
Thus begins Ira Levin’s popular 1978 comedy-thriller “Deathtrap,” which soon develops into an intricately constructed game of cat and mouse, pitting the scheming mentor against his idolizing protege. True to its own form, nothing is exactly as it appears, and there are shocking plot twists aplenty.
Solely on the surface, Georgia Ensemble Theatre’s new production of the old standard looks and sounds promising. Scenic designer Jonathan Rollins’ set depicts a handsomely converted New England stable/cabin, adorned with an array of stage weapons, props and other memorabilia from Sidney’s various plays. And knowing that veteran actors James Donadio and Mary Lynn Owen headline the cast would seem to give the oft-done show an extra boost.
Along with Anthony Shaffer’s “Sleuth,” Levin’s “Deathtrap” is among the better plays of this sort. Alas, artistic director Robert J. Farley’s mediocre staging falls victim to one of the inherent problems of the thriller genre, what Sidney and his student refer to as the “diminishing suspense” of having seen it all before. But even for those who haven’t, it’s much too slowly paced and softly pitched to be very exciting or interesting.
Most of the characters come across as the “glib, superficial” cardboard types they’re presumably intended to contradict. Although Donadio is clearly enjoying himself in Sidney’s pithier moments, his performance lacks any element of the dramatic desperation that could have provided a sharper, more sinister edge. Newcomer Brian Hatch is fairly flat and stiff as the upstart student. (It doesn’t help the show that Farley downplays a crucial aspect to the relationship between them.)
As the wife, Owen is surprisingly blase. Only the ebullient Shelly McCook truly enlivens her scenes as a dotty Dutch psychic who’s vacationing next door. James Baskin rounds out the ensemble in the rather needless role of a lawyer.
With the best-written thrillers, Sidney notes at one point, “Not even a gifted director can mess it up.” Despite his own long and distinguished career, Farley puts that to the test in “Deathtrap.” What once crackled about the play here mostly fizzles.
