Film & Theatre, Reviews | Posted on September 3rd, 2025 | return to news

Deathtrap

Bournemouth Little Theatre, Jameson Road, Winton

Review by Marilyn Barber

This was the first time I’d been to a production by this company – which has a delightful little theatre in Jameson Road, Winton – but if this play is anything to go by I will certainly be going again. I might be fighting colleagues for review tickets!

Where to begin with accolades?

Written by Ira Levin in 1976, and produced as a film starring Michael Caine in 1982, the story has multiple twists that you just don’t see coming.

I jumped out of my seat on more than one occasion.

Sidney Bruhl was a successful playwright, but he has had a series of box office flops, so stealing the work of another author Clifford Anderson seems like the answer to his writer’s block.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Sam Sheppard (Sidney) is a professional actor, such is the depth of his performance, taking the audience with him at every step. On stage for most of the time, even when he is not delivering lines, he is under the skin of Sidney 100 per cent.

The part of Clifford gives Topher Lynn the chance to transform from one persona to another and this he does with consummate skill. One moment you sympathise with him, the next you have a different take on his character.

Fifi La Roux is trading the boards for the first time as Myra Bruhl and she does a splendid job, with the part demanding that her emotions span from bored wife to a panicked one as the story evolves.

This play also provides laughs. Step forward Lauren Marie Killham and take a bow as psychic neighbour Doris Hamilton-King. She has had visions of terrible pain coming from the Bruhl home, enabling the actress to display her impressive comedic abilities.

William Lent puts in a well-rounded performance as the staid, law-abiding solicitor Porter Milton – but is he?

This is the second time that Barry Gray has directed at this 95-seater theatre, and he deserves a round of applause for this spellbinding production.

It was a sell out on the first night, but if you are very lucky you might be able to get a ticket as it runs until 6 September. Bournemouthlittletheatre.co.uk