Actors Nick Steen (left, as the young writer Clifford Anderson) and Tom Ford (right, as the seasoned playwright Sidney Bruhl) share a seemingly innocuous toast in a production of “Deathtrap.” Idaho Shakespeare Festival will run “Deathtrap” through July 25.
Actors Nick Steen (left, as the young writer Clifford Anderson) and Tom Ford (right, as the seasoned playwright Sidney Bruhl) share a seemingly innocuous toast in a production of “Deathtrap.” Idaho Shakespeare Festival will run “Deathtrap” through July 25.
BOISE — A 38-year Boise tradition, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival is poised to open its 2014 season Saturday night with “Deathtrap,” an exciting “whodunnit”-style play.
“It’s a thriller,” said Hannah Read, Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s director of marketing. “It should be really exciting for folks. We did ‘Mousetrap’ a few years ago, and it’s sort of in that same vein. This one is much more exciting. It just came to us from our sister theater in Cleveland, and it got amazing reviews there. They just ate it up. I think it’s going to be a big hit here as well.”
Described as “cunningly clever and comically twisted,” “Deathtrap” features a once-successful Broadway playwright who resolves to steal and take credit for a promising new script from one of his students.
“It’s just such an exciting play,” Read said. “It really grabs you and has you sitting on the edge of your seat. … It’s one that people will tell their friends about or come back to see again.”
Read also said Idaho Shakespeare Festival has planned an exciting 2014 season overall, pointing to a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” “Steel Magnolias,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Les Misérables.”
“I’m really excited about all of them, all for different reasons,” she said. “There’s really something for everyone. I think every show — every single production that we bring — is a new fresh thing. I don’t think we get too much same old this or that.”
Tickets for “Deathtrap” are available online at idahoshakespearetickets.com. Due to mature themes and language, the show is recommended for ages 14 and up.
