By Isle of Wight Observer
by Chris Hicks
Deathtrap, by Ira Levin, combines black comedy and murderous intrigue with a roller-coaster plot which keeps the audience on the edge of their seats right up to the final curtain.
A washed-up playwright plots to steal another man’s work and pass it off as his own, creating an evening of deceit and duplicity, where nothing is quite as it seems.
In the Apollo’s production, Jason Harris oozed malignant charm as the scheming playwright, Sidney Bruhl, with the knack of saying one thing and clearly meaning another.
Ginnie Orrey played his wife, Myra. The only character with a shred of moral fibre, she urges caution but stands by while Sidney appears to murder his guest. Despite squeamish misgivings, she even helps dispose of the ‘corpse.’
The ‘victim’, Clifford Anderson, was played with great energy by Chris Walsh who, as events spiralled out of control, portrayed the decline of his character with gleeful flare, maintaining a convincing accent and displaying an excellent dynamic range.
Other characters included the lawyer, Porter Milgrim, played with suitable aplomb by Ian Moth, and next-door-neighbour, Helga Ten Dorp. This role could have been written for Maggie Cardew, who lit up the stage in a cloud of beads and psychedelic green.
The play was tightly directed by Steve Reading, and the convoluted narrative was easy to follow and the action gathered pace nicely, particularly in the second act.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this highly enjoyable production.
