Media Release | Teatro Live! Returns

Media Release
For Immediate Release
November 8, 2022

Deathtrap

Written by Ira Levin
Directed by Nancy McAlear

November 18 - December 4, 2022

At The Varscona Theatre
10329 83 Ave NW

Tickets at teatroq.com

EDMONTON- A new Teatro season is at hand and already there are twists aplenty. The launch of the 2022/23 season is also the official launch of the new identity: what was once Teatro La Quindicina is now simply Teatro Live! The first play of the season is Ira Levin’s classic comic thriller Deathtrap, exploding on to the Varscona Theatre stage on November 19 in a production directed by Nancy McAlear.

In this electrifying comedy thriller, playwright Sidney Bruhl sees an opportunity to revive his flagging career when a young protégé arrives at his isolated country home with a new script - a play entitled “Deathtrap” which looks to be a surefire hit. What follows is an ever escalating series of deceptions, revelations, and bad-faith negotiations in which who gets writing credit is is as important as who takes the blame for murder. It’s shockingly hilarious, yet also hilariously shocking. Deathtrap’s original production played for 4 years- the longest ever Broadway run for a comic thriller.

It’s a play where no one is entirely who they first seem to be and Teatro Live! has upped these stakes that little bit further with a cunning cast of (mostly) debuting artists. Ian Leung leads the pack as the constantly calculating  and recalibrating Sidney, sparring with Geoffrey Simon Brown as Clifford, the novice playwright whose talent puts his very life at risk. Also new to the ensemble are Kristin Johnston as Sidney’s increasingly wide-eyed wife Myra, and Corben Kushneryk as Porter, an observant attorney harbouring artistic ambitions of his own. And finally, fresh from her debut in the title role of Teatro’s Evelyn Strange, Gianna Vacirca returns as the notorious next-door-psychic Helga Ten Dorp.

After directing the Citadel’s hit summer production of Clue, Nancy McAlear is no stranger to the art of deception, deflection, and lies, lies, lies! She’s abetted by a practised team of Teatro designers: costume maven Leona Brausen, who revels in the play’s chic 1978 setting, Chantel Fortin, who creates an aptly warm yet menacing Connecticut country home, and Alison Yanota, whose lighting illuminates all or nothing-at-all in rapid alteration. Also on hand are fight director Morgan Yamada (Spoiler alert: There’s conflict!) and stage manager Hunter Luth, who inventories the weapons and apportions the blood.

Deathtrap plays November 18 to December 4 at the Varscona Theatre. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Sundays. Additionally, there is a preview performance on Thursday, November 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets and Subscriptions may be purchased at teatroq.com

Admission is $42 for adults and $37 for seniors/students.
All seats for Sunday matinees are $30.
Tuesday evenings are Pay-What-You-Can- available at the door only.