Death Trap *** TNT

For most seasoned theatregoers Simon Russell Beale can’t put a foot wrong. So, although Matthew Warchus’s atmospheric resurrection of Ira Levin’s self-referential 1978 comedy thriller is unlikely to spark a major revival of the genre, there’s much to enjoy in this far-fetched tale of blocked, once successful Broadway playwright Sidney Bruhl who contemplates murder when a former student (Glee‘s personable Jonathan Groff) sends him the sort of script he wishes he could still produce.

Just about everything about the plot is preposterous – from the heavily accented psychic neighbour to the lethal armoury which decorates his converted Connecticut stable. But the twists and turns are deftly (if not totally convincingly) handled and the ever-watchable Russell Beale, in perfectly-timed low-key mode, invests Bruhl with far more layers of subtlety than he deserves.

Noel Coward, St. Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4AU Tube: Leicester Square (0844 482 5140) Leicester Square
deathtraptheplay.com Until 22nd January £19.50 - £49.50