Not that Deathtrap doesn't have promising ingredients - it does: one set, five characters, a juicy murder in the first act, plenty of twists in the second and enough comedy throughout to keep it light. To take these in order, the set was pleasantly cluttered and cheerfully lit – during the terrifically-staged fight scene how the repro lamp didn’t end up in a hundred pieces I will never know. The characters were a mixed bunch: I sensed no chemistry between Sidney and his wife in this production, and the interventions by an Asian clairvoyant forecasting doom like the mad Scotsman in Dad’s Army were very odd. Nor did the young woman who played her help her cause by intoning in a sing-song voice reminiscent of music hall parody. The juicy murder made me jump and my neighbour scream, the twists were ingenious though less so as the play wore on, and the comedy I’m afraid fell flat – there was no laughter and I smiled once. The dialogue was smart but had a glib, self-satisfied feel to it, I thought. I never really believed in any of the characters, and the last impression was this was a clever, mechanical piece, all glitter and no substance.