Stage Review - Deathtrap (Woodinville Rep)

Stage Review - Deathtrap
Presented By: Woodinville Repertory Theatre - Woodinville, WA
Show Run: April 25 - May 18, 2025
Date Reviewed: Thursday, April 24, 2025 (Preview)
Run Time: 2 Hours, 25 minutes (including a 20 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Anna Tatelman

Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? Can some writers imagine what they picture or want into existence, or are they inevitably mimicking reality with a bit of added flair? Or is life itself a work-in-progress script written by some all-seeing being with a liking for irony? These are just some of the questions that Woodinville Repertory’s current production of Deathtrap brilliantly asks through embracing and heightening the wild peaks, valleys, and twists of its source material, all while making audiences whiplash between gasping and laughing.

Ira Levin’s Deathtrap centers around Sidney Bruhl, a playwright once renowned for his murder mysteries but now struggling with his career. At the play’s opening, Sidney has just read a brilliant script written and sent to him by Clifford Anderson, one of his former students. Seeing Sidney’s rising resentment at Clifford’s brilliance and frustration with Sidney’s own dwindling career, his wife Myra concocts a plan in which Sidney will serve as the mentor and eventual co-author of Clifford’s revised script. While Sidney at first agrees, he begins to lightly ponder with greater and greater frequency the idea of profiting off his student’s success through other means – namely, enacting in four-dimensions the type of well-plotted murder he previously kept to the page.

Director Alicia Mendez embraces the fast-paced, metatheatrical nature of the piece, guiding the four actors to constantly connect then collide away from one another. Although there were a few places where I felt cues could have been picked up faster (something that I am confident a few more run-throughs will quickly fix), by and large the show barrels forward with amazing momentum. The notes I took while at the invited dress are a jumble because I kept getting distracted in the middle of writing a thought, whether because my attention had just been seized by a new plot twist or captured by an actor’s delivery of a joke.

Deathtrap is a tight, four-person play, and each actor more than pulls their own weight in this small but mighty team. Terry Boyd is Sidney Bruhl, the playwright who may no longer be content to confine his murders to the fictional realm. Boyd switches with impressive speed between his character’s various personas – the amiable mentor, the jealous writing teacher, the attentive spouse, the husband tired of living off his wife’s money – and does a masterful slow reveal of how what we think is his ‘true self’ may be yet another role he’s written for himself. Christina Williams plays Myra, Sidney’s wife, and strikes a delicate balance between trying to support her husband’s waning career while being the voice of reason. Williams accomplishes a lot with even tiny nonverbal reactions, such as the way she holds onto Sidney’s soda for an extra moment to shoot him a warning look before handing it over.

Adam Nyhoff as Clifford Anderson is a deeply earnest young writer, awed that Sidney wants to mentor him, but not afraid to voice an opinion that differs from his idol’s. I can’t say much else for fear of spoiling the play, so let’s just add here that Nyhoff also convincingly and eerily sheds his character’s various masks throughout the course of the show. Last but not least is Sara Trowbridge as Helga ten Dorp, the Bruhls’ psychic neighbor. While Boyd, Williams, and Nyhoff all have brilliant moments of dark or pun-related humor, Trowbridge wholeheartedly and smartly embraces a more farcical, outrageous type of comedy, disrupting the tension-filled space with various smacks to the walls and yells across the venue.

The production elements of Woodinville Rep’s Deathtrap are impressive across the board and on par with what you might expect from a theatre with a larger budget. The set is a beautiful wood cabin, made by lead designer Leroy Timblin and scenic artist Molly West. Posters of various murder mysteries, elegant swords, and a glass cabinet of guns and other curiosities line the walls; we learn throughout the play that many of these posters and weapons are from Sidney’s former glorious productions. I also loved the lightly immersive touches: from the giant tombstone with Deathtrap printed upon it as you ascend the theatre staircase, to the miniature grave markers and white bouquets atop each table inside the venue. The lighting design (also by Leroy Timblin) is similarly striking and varied, whether the whole theatre is flashing with white-blue lightning or the amber fireplace is casting a soft, flickering glow. Anjanette Vaidya’s costumes further enhance the piece with a bit of ‘80s flair; I especially enjoyed Helga ten Dorp’s statement-piece outfits with their billowing sleeves and jangling beads.

Woodinville Repertory Theatre’s production of Deathtrap is the best type of thriller: it moves quickly, comes laden with surprises, and contains tons of action that raise the tension and put the various characters in jeopardy. But it also manages to be outrageously funny and to pose metatheatrical questions about if art imitates life or if life just has a sardonic sense of humor. With a solid ensemble and great production elements, this one is more than worth the trip up north from Seattle.

Deathtrap runs on stage at Woodinville Repertory Theatrethrough May 18. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.woodinvillerep.org/.

Photo credit: Sandro Menzel