Raven Theater's DEATH TRAP a Play that Has Seen Better Days

As you walked into the Raven Theater, music from the 70s was being played. The Bee Gee's "Stayin Alive" preceded the start of the play "Death Trap". The show originally ran on Broadway in the 70s and received four Tony nominations, including for "Best Play." Written by Ira Levin, it's a comic thriller with chills and laughs that should remain in the past. The show no longer feels fresh, clever or relevant. And its entertainment value has greatly diminished. The two act play revolves around a long in the tooth playwright, Sidney (a charismatic Craig Peoples). Sidney's talents have waned and his glory days have passed. He tells his wife Myra (a prim Elizabeth Henry) he's received an excellent play written by a student whom he can't remember from his writing seminar. His envy turns to plodding how he could rub out the author, put his own name on the play and become the toast of Broadway, again. The 70s era period piece play is anchored by telephones and technologies that were non-existent at the time. Rotary. landline phones, electric typewriters and carbon copy machines vital at the time, are embedded into the plot are now obsolete. Sidney and Myra conspire to lure the budding playwright, Clifford (an earnest Christopher Johnston) to their country estate under false pretenses of Sidney's help for improving the play. A fawning Clifford is dazzled by Sidney's interest and by the arsenal of weaponry mounted on the walls used in Sidney's previous murder mysteries. Act one's murder twist doesn't pack the intended shock it once wielded which proves enough to send Sidney's complicit wife to her grave. Nor is it scandalous to discover Clifford and Sidney are lovers who consorted to rid Sidney of his wealthy wife and take over her estate. The celebrity psychic neighbor Helga (Diane Bailey) who warns the married couple of pain and doom she feels within their room is played for comedic relief but it comes off as cheesy. Sidney and Clifford come to crossroads over writing about their murderous scheme. Clifford believes that nothing  can implicate them. Sidney doesn't want to risk anything, including being outed from the closet. The grade school students accompanied by parents to the matinee were not engaged in the play. They continuously, albeit quietly, kept leaving their seats.  "Death Trap" has lost its jolt and neither did it fly with the older folks. Alas, "Death Trap" is not the only thing that has fallen out of style from the 70s. Along with disco, this play should stay in the past.