I haven’t seen too many plays, but I think Deathtrap is one of the best ones I’ve come across. I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Groff since he was in Spring Awakening and when I heard he was doing a play nearby I had to go see it. I definitely was not disappointed. The first thing that I really liked about the play was that it was really funny right from the beginning. Simon Russell Beale plays Sidney Bruhl, a once incredibly successful, now struggling playwright who is sent a play called Deathtrap by a fellow writer and longtime admirer called Cliff Anderson, played by Jonathan Groff. Simon then conspires to kill Cliff and take the credit fro his play to spark a comeback in his writing career. Let’s just say things take a few twists and turns and if you go see it, you will jump in your seat a few times.
As far as acting goes, I already admitted I went just to see Jonathan Groff but I’m happy to say there were no weak links in the acting department. Everyone was on their game, at least the were that particular night. There are only five characters in the entire play so it was important that all of them were good, which they were. Oh and any Roseanne fans will be happy to know that the actress that played her mother in her tv show, Estelle Parsons, was also in the production. She played the hilarious role of the psychic who predicts the deaths in the play and Sidney’s next door neighbor. I have to say I think my favorite part of the play was the dynamic relationship between Cliff and Sidney. I think Jonathan and Simon had really good chemistry and played very well off each other. How well these two interacted would have made or broken the production and they impressed me.
The set and the entire play itself was very simple, the entire production took place in one room. I really liked this detail because with such a small cast I don’t think it wouldn’t have made sense for them to be moving all over the place. Plus it would have felt like too much was going on and would have been much harder to follow. The one room set complimented the story a lot in my opinion.
Overall, even though I personally don’t know too much about plays, I would definitely give Deathtrap two thumbs up. It’s a fantastic play and if you see it you won’t be disappointed, I wasn’t.
- Jordan Fuller
UCR - 2011
It is interesting to hear that you consider the one-room setting matched the starkness of the play. Good observation there. You may not know 'too much about plays' (although after the course all that is set to change), but you can recognize a theatrical event that 'speaks' to you on many levels. Dr Q
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