Beyond the mad and the macabre

Acclaimed British actor Michael Caine once described his character of Sidney Bruhl in the film adaptation of the hit play Deathtrap as “mad — stark-raving mad”.

That just about sums up the longest running comedy thriller on Broadway, which won a Tony award and was adapted into a movie in 1982 starring Caine and Christopher Reeve who was looking to diversify after the success of his role as Superman.

It was the movie that drew the attention of director Dean Lundquist, who also runs Asylum Theatre, the company staging the play in Singapore for the very first time. A fan of the Superman films, he went to watch the movie because of Reeve. “I loved it then, and I love the play even more,” Lundquist declared. “After our successful production of The 39 Steps last year, it became clear to us that Singaporean audiences love the thriller-comedy genre. This is why we chose Deathtrap.”

Written by Ira Levin in 1978, the play follows the wicked machinations of Sidney Bruhl, a successful mystery writer, with expensive tastes and a sick wife, whose dark and twisted muse has abandoned him. He has always assumed that committing crime on paper cleansed one’s predisposed inclinations. But after a lifetime of vicarious murders, Bruhl finds himself fantasising actual murder in a bid to regain his reputation as a successful writer by stealing a younger writer’s bestselling script.

The actors taking on these heavyweight roles in the Singapore staging certainly have large shoes to fill. Yet, the cast is undeterred, enjoying the chance to play these titillating roles.

Andrew Mowatt who plays Sidney Bruhl, said he relishes “opportunities to work on good text-based theatre” which he admitted “is a little old school”. “But I think the true test of an actor is to breathe life into a playwright’s dialogue and transform it into action. If that is old school, then I am a prefect at that school.”

Chris Bucko, who plays Clifford Anderson, the young writer Bruhl preys on, appears equally content. “Deathtrap is one of the most brilliant scripts I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on,” he said. “Levin’s wit and exquisite plot twists are simply marvellous.”

It is, indeed, the detestable characters that seal the play’s fate. However mad Bruhl came across, Levin’s writing ensures that his dark humanity made him all the more charismatic, and this was the same for the other characters as they fall into their own trappings of desire and greed.

Yet, it also leaves a bad aftertaste as you leave the theatre and scroll through your phone and witness the daily overexposure to the worst of human nature on your newsfeed.

Perhaps it is time for a contemporary retelling of Levin’s brilliant work, one that brings us stronger female characters and a more nuanced take on the contemporary social acceptability of sociopathic tendencies.

Lundquist observed: “I think at its core, Deathtrap is a thrilling kind of morality play. It invites us to explore our darker selves and contemplate the prospect of living without consequences.”

Deathtrap runs until October 30 at Black Box Drama Theatre. Tickets are available at SISTIC.