Arts Alive! podcast: Natalie Symons of ‘Deathtrap’

Not too long ago, playwright, actress and novelist Natalie Symons left Tampa to return to her hometown in upstate New York. Then she got an offer she couldn’t refuse.

The offer-maker was Eric Davis, artistic director of St. Petersburg’s freeFall Theatre, a place with which Symons had enjoyed a lengthy and fruitful professional relationship during her time in the bay area.

Davis asked her to accept a role in the freeFall production of Deathtrap, the mystery thriller by Ira Levin (whose novels include Rosemary’s Baby, the Stepford Wives and A Kiss Before Dying).

It happened to be one of Natalie Symons’ all-time favorite plays.

The longest-running mystery/comedy (there are a lot of laughs along the way) in Broadway history, Deathtrap is the story of successful Connecticut playwright Sidney Bruhl (played by Davis), who’s hit a rough patch.

Bruhl and his wife Myra (Symons) see a light at the end of their tunnel with the arrival of an acolyte of Sidney’s, aspiring playwright Clifford Anderson (Robert Teasdale).

What follows is no less than Agatha Christie on steroids. There are more twists and turns than a Busch Gardens rollercoaster.

Matthew McGee, the show’s director, joins us in the latter half of this Arts Alive! interview. Deathtrap opens Saturday and will run through Dec. 7.

Click on the arrow to listen to the conversation.