THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604130046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
ABRAHAM LINCOLN was not known primarily as a theater critic but there was a theatrical truism in his statement about how you could fool some of the people some of the time but never all of the people all of the time.
The abundance of ``thrillers'' currently on the market have overloaded the public with so many unexpected plot twists that it has become commonplace that the most unlikely possibility is almost certain to be the most likely ``surprise'' ending.
For those who have somehow avoided learning the several surprise twists of ``Deathtrap,'' the 1978 Broadway play and the 1982 (Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve) movie, the new production of the Virginia Stage Company will serve as an entertaining charade. For those who have been exposed to the plot, there is still some fun in the laughs, and in spotting clues as they pop up.
As the curtain rises on Rob Odorisio's stunningly detailed set, representing a rustic home in Connecticut, we meet a once-successful mystery writer who hasn't had a hit in years. He's just read a super script, called ``Deathtrap,'' written by one of his students. It's a sure-fire hit that would net him at least $2 million and make him famous all over again. To the shock of his disapproving wife, he lays out plans to murder the young writer and take the script for himself.
``Deathtrap'' is designed to be played frivolously and artificially by slick, easy actors. Happily, director Dex Edwards, making his directorial debut at VSC after designing striking sets for ``Hamlet'' and ``A Perfect Ganesh,'' has coached just such a light touch from his cast.
On the other side of the ledger, though, Edwards has, particularly in two of the performers, allowed a too-direct bead on laughs. Although ``Deathtrap'' is a satire of thrillers it must, at the same time, work as a thriller itself. Most of all, its characters should never know they are humorous. Only the audience should know.
The play's two leads are largely on target. Bruce Evers is believably arch and conniving as the once-famous playwright who is suffering writer's block - and is desperate enough to kill for a good script. He is more adept at the lean and hungry look than he is at tossing off Ira Levin's witticisms, but he manages both believably.
David DeBesse is fine as the young writer who seemingly doesn't know the danger into which he's walking. DeBesse brings a boyish charm to the character. He is adept at suggesting both the naivete and the eventual ambition needed for rounding out the character.
The two female leads, however, seem to be afflicted with acute cases of the cutesies. Suzanna Hay, who was very good on Broadway last season co-starring with Helen Mirren in ``A Month in the Country,'' seems too young and energetic for the role of the older writer's rich wife. Faced with the prospect of witnessing a murder, she plays her scenes with the kind of hysteria that is aimed more at laughs than at angst. This should not be.
The role of Helga Ten Dorp, on the other hand, is admittedly a more intentionally comic part. This woman is a flamboyant psychic who busily predicts everything from the weather to murder. As played by Candy Aston-Dennis the character lacks any real eccentricity or threat and, instead, is played for broad laughs.
In a supporting role, Stefana Magaddino is perfectly level-headed about his playing of the visiting lawyer.
Although the pursuit of laughs is a bit too diligent, the thrills are still there.
Virginia Stage Company has a commercial hit on its hands through April 28 and it didn't even have to murder anyone to get this script. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
THEATER REVIEW
What: ``Deathtrap,'' the thriller by Ira Levin
Who: Directed by Dex Edwards, featuring Bruce Evers, David
DeBese, Suzanna Hay, Candy Aston-Dennis and Stefana Magaddino
Where: Virginia Stage Company at the Wells Theater, downtown
Norfolk
When: Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8
p.m., Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m., through April 28
Ticket Prices: From $11 to $32. (Half-price tickets available on
days of performance from 5 to 7 p.m. at box office). 627-1234.
by CNB