By: Butch Maier / Photo above courtesy of Sutten Photography
Deathtrap, Ira Levin’s comedy-thriller play in two acts, was first staged in 1978. In January, the almost-a-half-century-old story felt new again. Plot twists drew gasps during a Saturday matinee performance of a Virginia Repertory Theatre production at Hanover Tavern, just north of Richmond. “Hanover is, honestly, one of the most charming little theaters I have ever sat in,” Virginia Rep artistic director Rick Hammerly said. “It’s only 150 seats, but you’re almost on the stage, so it’s very intimate, which is lovely.”
The sold-out crowd was as snug as a bug in a rug—or as a body on stage wrapped in a rug.
The brick production design matched the actual theater structure, adding to the atmosphere of audience members feeling like flies on a wall—with the show generating positive buzz during the intermission.
“There’s something about it that’s a little bit foolproof if you just do the script and put it up there, it’s gonna work,” said Virginia Rep actor Nathan Whitmer, who portrayed famous-but-struggling playwright Sidney Bruhl.
In Deathtrap, Sidney invites his student, Clifford Anderson (Axle Burtness), to his home to discuss Clifford’s new script, which Sidney recognizes as a potential hit. Sidney’s plans scare his wife, Myra Bruhl (McLean Fletcher), who tries to convince the two men to work together. Psychic neighbor Helga ten Dorp (Donna Marie Miller) also sees to it that she has plenty funny to say about the men’s interaction.
As Whitmer’s Sidney intensely shared his thoughts and plots aloud with a sharp tongue, Fletcher’s Myra deftly traversed a verbal tightrope between curtailing her husband’s evil intentions and enticing Burtness’s not-so-innocent Clifford to do a deal.
My favorite moment: Fletcher’s hilarious, never-ending yowl when a certain deed was done. Director Sidney Lumet’s movie Deathtrap, starring Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, and Dyan Cannon, premiered in 1982—also the first year my family got HBO. It played over and over. Multiple times a day. I watched it again and again.
So, I had looked forward to seeing how the play, directed at the Hanover by Paul Takacs, would play on a stage. Many in the audience were seeing the story play out anywhere for the first time.
“What’s tricky in this day in age is what is theater being looked at to do right now?” Hammerly said. “We’re dealing with economic hardships—I mean, the country is. We’re dealing with a lot of stress. Do people want to be challenged? Or do they need to escape and be entertained? And trying to ride that line.
“This is a show that you can escape for two hours, and you’re on the edge of your seat because it turns and twists so much. So, I wanted to do something that would do that—that would allow people to escape, to live in a different world for a while.”
The Deathtrap world was one room that kept attendees on edge with 20-plus weapons hanging on the center-stage wall, waiting to be grabbed at any time. The actors deftly handled numerous props throughout, and every time one held a weapon, attendees anticipated a sharp plot point.
“Theater is constantly trying to bring in a new audience, and by that, I mean a younger audience,” Hammerly said. “Theater audiences tend to be a little older, and what happens when they’re no longer going to the theater? We need that next generation constantly to be stepping up. So, you can do some old chestnuts, and I think it’s going to turn off some of the younger folks.
“With a show like this, because of the themes of greed and murder—the fact that it’s a thriller, and it also has some comic stuff, it’s really engaging that I think all ages can really respond to it.” Audience members of all ages responded enthusiastically…and shortly thereafter quizzically, wondering if there was a twist they missed. They engaged in a debate about whether one actor played two characters, since a person was missing at curtain call. (The answer: No. Someone was on the mend.)
If you missed Deathtrap, I encourage you to head over to the Hanover or the November Theatre for another Virginia Rep play.
Maybe you will discover a show—either new or new to you—that will pull the rug out from under you.
For more on the Virginia Repertory Theatre season, go to va-rep.org/2025-2026.
Butch Maier
