I really wanted to like Mesa Encore Theatre's Deathtrap. I swear. It's one of my favorite thrillers. I respect the lead actor, John Michael Slook, and the comic relief actress, Ramona Richards. I'd heard good things about the actor playing opposite Mr. Slook, Scott Peter McKinsey. Unfortunately, opening night was laughably bad. Even though he resembles Stephen Sondheim, the composer upon which his character is based, Mr. Slook's performance suffers from rushed line deliveries and odd speech patterns. Director Bob Feugate offers no interesting stage pictures and uses rudimentary blocking. While Ms. Richards and Mr. McKinsey are very good, the remainder of the supporting cast is the pits. Even considering small budgets require design limitations, Mr. Feugate's set is skimpy. Once again, I'm giving a bad review to a MET show, and I really wish I didn't have to.
Ira Levin's Deathtrap is a hip, tongue-in-cheek thriller that is ever aware of its theatrical setting, pitting Sidney, an established murder mystery playwright in a long dry spell, against Clifford, a young playwright with a killer first draft. It is his wife, Myra's job to keep Sidney from offing Clifford and offering the script as his own. An unexpected guest throws things off kilter when Dutch police psychic Helga Ten Dorp interrupts the plotting. Adding a certain amount of exposition is Sidney's lawyer, Porter.
Not only does Mr. Slook barrel forward through the play, shaving about 20 minutes off the average run, there's absolutely no chemistry between his character and that of his wife, played by Doris Walker. Much of this may rest in the fact that Ms. Walker never makes recognizable acting choices, speaking her lines with stock inflections and telegraphing each situation well in advance of its arrival, the kiss of death in a thriller. Her emotions don't ring true, and she won't commit to what is happening onstage. Ken Neal as Porter is even worse. He speaks his lines as though he's about to forget them all, and in a style that prompted my companion to accurately comment that he sounded like Winnie the Pooh's friend, Eeyore. He shuffles around the stage without any motivation for his movements. This lack of motivated blocking is not unique to Mr. Neal. Mr. Feugate's choices are often textually driven, and sometimes seem not to have been made at all, such as leaving Mr. Slook sitting behind a desk through a lot of the first act.
All is not lost in this production. Ms. Richards is very funny as the cuckoo Helga. She offers a consistent accent, hits all of her punch lines, and her pacing is lively rather than rushed. Mr. McKinsey is also solid, investing himself into the script and believably presenting the many twists through which his character bounces.
While the set seems skimpy and barebones, Caryol Gebhardt's lighting and Karen Rolston's sound designs are successful, and the costumes work well.
MET is finishing its 65th season. Next season will feature the oft-performed Simon play Rumors, George Axelrod's gender-switching comedy Goodbye, Charlie, and the dusty chestnut Styne, Comden and Green musical Bells Are Ringing.
Production Details:
Deathtrap by Anthony Schaeffer
Mesa Encore Theatre
The Mesa Arts Center, Mesa
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(480) 834-9500 (option 1)
May 10th - 19th, 2002