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Soul & Penhaligon Take Levin's Deathtrap on Tour

David Soul, Susan Penhaligon and Gerald Kyd will star in a major new touring production of Ira Levin's classic suspense thriller Deathtrap. The production opens at Norwich's Theatre Royal on 23 January 2002 before continuing on to a further 19 cities until 8 June 2002.

Sidney, once a celebrated thrillers author, is suffering from writer's block. While waiting for inspiration, he receives a brilliant script from one of his former writing students, Clifford. The temptation is too much. With the help of his wife Myra, Sidney plots to murder his protégé and market the young man's sure-fire thriller as his own. But, as in any good thriller, twists and turns follow in abundance.

Deathtrap first opened in 1978 in New York, where it went on to become Broadway's longest running thriller. That same year, it premiered in London at the West End's Garrick Theatre in a production starring Dennis Quilley and Rosemary McHale. In 1982, it was made into a film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. Levin's other credits include Rosemary's Baby, Stepford Wives and Sliver.

American actor David Soul, who plays Sidney, is best known as Hutch from the 1970s American television series Starsky and Hutch. His other UK stage credits include Blood Brothers, Speed the Plow, The Aspern Papers, Comic Potential and The Dead Monkey.

Kyd (as Clifford) and Penhaligon (Myra) are also familiar TV faces. Kyd's credits include Dr Sean Maddox on Casualty, while Penhaligon has starred in series such as A Touch of Frost and, most famously, Bouquet of Barbed Wire. They are joined in the cast by Stewart Bevan and Becky Hindley.

Deathtrap is directed by Peter Wilson, with designs by Andrew Leigh. The tour is presented by PW Productions, PWT and Paul Farrah in association with Kindling Productions Ltd.

Following Norwich, Deathtrap visits Woking, Bradford, Poole, Southsea, Coventry, Blackpool, Bromley, Eastbourne, Billingham, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Salford Quays, Richmond, Brighton, Bath, Milton Keynes and Stoke on Trent, with further dates to be confirmed.

- by Terri Paddock

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