title: Deathtraps: The Postmodern Comedy Thriller
author: Marvin Carlson
description: <P>MARVIN CARLSON is Sidney E. Cohn Professor of Theatre and Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Among his books on European theatre history and on theatrical theory are Theories of the Theatre, Places of Performance, and Theatre Semiotics: Signs of Life.</P>
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  **Praise for " Deathtrap: A Thriller in Two Acts"**
  
  “An absolute knock-out of a suspense melodrama and fun straight through.”
  
  —Walter Kerr, New York Times
  
  “A witty and scary thriller! A marvelous evening of theatre!”
  
  —Brendan Gill, The New Yorker
  
  “If you care to assassinate yourself with laughter, try Deathtrap'. A brimming
  tumbler of arsenic and schweppes, booby-trapped with scarifying surprises!”
  
  —T. E. Kalem, Time
  
  “Deathtrap is like a ride on a good rollercoaster when screams and laughs
  mingle to form an enjoyable hysteria!”
  
  —Jack Kroll, Newsweek
  
  “Its so nice to hear screams in the theatre again: Ira Levin’s Deathtrap
  invites ecstatic shrieks of pure terror and laughter! Suspend your disbelief
  and be delighted; scream a little—it’s good for you!”
  
  —Marilyn Stasio, Cue magazine
  
  “The thriller Broadway has been waiting for! A case of fun and foolery,
  mingling murder-mystery surprises with savvy show bizz jokes!”
  
  —John Beaufort, Christian Science 