COMIC MURDER MYSTERY WITH A TWIST SET FOR LITTLE THEATRE

The curtain is set to rise at a Chester theatre on a production of a classic comic thriller.

Following on from the sell-out success of Conor McPherson play "The Weir" at The Live Rooms recently, Chester based theatre company Against The Grain will stage Ira Levin's classic murder mystery "Deathtrap" in the Salisbury Studio Theatre at Chester Little Theatre from Thursday 20^th October - Saturday 22^nd October at 7.30pm. The play will be directed for Against The Grain by company co-founder Stuart Evans.

Described as "a play within a play" and full of plot twists and turns, "Deathtrap" was first staged in 1978 and holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway. It was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Play. In 1982, it was adapted in to a successful film starring Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon and Christopher Reeve. The play tells the story of American playwright Sidney Bruhl who despite his previous successes, has hit writer's block following a series of box office flops. Desperate to get back in the game, he hears of an up-and-coming playwright, Clifford Anderson who has written a new play called ‘Deathtrap’. Sidney tells his wife, Myra that Clifford’s play could be a success and invites him round for dinner to 'discuss' the new piece of writing, but things are about to take a sinister turn?

The 5 strong cast includes Simon Phillips (The Weir), Marian Newman (Small Tales, Mr Dumpling), and Mark Newman (Small Tales, Mr Dumpling, The Weir). Joining Against The Grain for the first time are actors Haluk Saglam and Sally Anglesea.

Speaking about bringing the production to the stage, Stuart Evans said "Lots of people know the film version of "Deathtrap" with its infamous Gay kiss between two Hollywood stars, needless to say it’s so much more than that. When I first received a copy of the script, the play was clearly described as ‘a thriller’ which would normally give the director a very fixed idea as to how it should be staged. But, a few pages in and I didn’t see this was the case at all but a clever ploy put there by the playwright, using the actual title of the play within the play and its theme. The dialogue between the characters demonstrates that it's very clearly a comedy, almost a farce if you will but with all the elements of a classic thriller including several unexpected plot twists.  The choices that I have made as director, together with the cast are all about bringing out the humour whilst not detracting from the darker, more sinister side the plot."

Stuart added "Even though as a play, it was first staged in 1978, the writing is so good that it doesn't really date and so it can still be staged as if in the modern day as there are so are few references which pin point it to a particular moment in time. We've certainly had some very interesting props to source and some of the scenes have to be very heavily choreographed but we have an excellent props team and cast onboard and so we very much hope that our audiences will enjoy Against The Grain's fresh take on this classic comic thriller whilst staying true to Ira Levin's beautifully crafted script and ingenious plot."

Full details of "Deathtrap" can be found at:

www.chesterlittletheatre.co.uk 

...where tickets can be booked online.

Alternatively, contact the TicketSource box office on:

0333 666366