Deadly deeds done on stage

Don’t believe everything you see.

The twists and turns in Perry Player’s production of “Deathtrap” leave the audience guessing at each scene.

The show is about a struggling playwright, Sidney Bruhl, played by Mark Webling, who hasn’t had a successful play in decades. A young man, Clifford Anderson, played by Kyle Whitaker, sends him a draft and Bruhl starts a plot to kill the protege.

“There are many, many layers,” director Stuart Appleton said.

The story line convinced Appleton to bring this play to Perry.

“You think you’ve got it, then bam, change that. Now I have it again and bam. That’s how the show keeps you on the edge of your seat,” he said.

Set in the Northeast, the play takes place in an old house where Bruhl lives with his wife, Myra, played by Leslie Campillo. Along the walls are various medieval weaponry such as swords, antique guns and knives.

“What’s the point of having a mace if you can’t use it,” Sidney Bruhl asks his wife as he ponders killing the younger playwright.

After luring Anderson to their home, the couple try to convince him to give up part of his rights to the play for a consultation fee.

A set of Harry Houdini handcuffs, a wire and a few moments later, one person is shrieking and another is dead.

Enter Dutch psychic Helga ten Dorp, played by Jaloo Zelonis, who senses pain and predicts another attack and death.

“Always in the full moon I am in top form,” she says in her heavy accent.

Todd Wilson plays Porter Milgrim, Sidney Bruhl’s attorney.

The play is not recommended for children due to some intense fight scenes, Appleton said, giving the play a PG-13 rating.

“We hope to make the audience gasp and scream and laugh,” he said.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Deadly deeds done on stage."