The Tony-nominated play Deathtrap hails as one of Broadways longest-running plays, and especially one of it's longest-running thrillers and eventually made into a popular film. The plot follows a fame-obsessed playwright who creates and executes devious plans in order to get what he wants. What follows is a show full of unpredictable twists and turns meant to keep the audience as in the dark as the characters, which it usually successfully does. [Spoiler alert ahead]
As I sat watching this well-done performance of Deathtrap, I couldn't help but wonder about the initial popularity of this play. We watch the playwrights write the play we are currently watching, and this novelty of a "play-within-a-play" quickly wears off. The material feigns to be so self-aware that I think in actuality it is completely unaware of itself and the banality of the novelty. It is chock-full of unlikeable characters and plot holes. The stock characters are painfully familiar theater tropes (the hysterical wife, the gay theater men, the conniving and devious gays, the kooky foreigner) leaving none with dimension. For the sake of symmetry (the playwright seems to be obsessively trying to convince the audience of his knowledge and skill, which unfortunately doesn't translate to the actual work) the final act is superfluous and needlessly tacked on, almost in a desperate attempt give the only likable character a chance to be disliked.
With all the flaws in the source material, the production of the Pioneer Theater Company is excellent. Most notable was the sincere portrayal of Myra Bruhl by Gayton Scott. Her early demise in the show is the real tragedy as her skills are excellent and she is a true star. Kymberly Mellen's portrayal of the foreigner with ESP, Helga Ten Dorp, was charming and clever. These were the stand out performances that sometimes made the other actors look a bit amateurish by comparison.
The real star of the show was the exquisite set designed by Dan Zimmerman. It was dark and brooding, full of intricacies and details that were really remarkable, yet could be warm and inviting. Truly one of the best sets seen on the Pioneer Theater Stage in a while.
Next, Pioneer Theater will present Sweet Charity as they finish off their 2013-2014 season.
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