I can only nod my head in agreement with Pillowman (my first McDonagh exposure) and Topdog/Underdog
I'm not sure How I Learned to Drive was "suspenseful" per se, but it certainly had me uncomfortably squirming in my seat!
1984 at The Hudson Theatre. Near the end, when all of the walls flew out and revealed the towering, blindingly bright Ministry of Love, and they brought out the rat cage.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/14/22
Even the worst, most amateur-hour productions of Hamlet still hold one's interest simply because the suspense is so well-structured.
Dollypop said: "WAIT UNTIL DARK ( the original production. It lost something in the Tarantino revival)"
I wish I had seen the original, that Tarantino revival had me laughing out loud.
In addition to Deathtrap, Voices in the Dark - I thought I was prepared for anything unexpected, but I was wrong!
Also, Shining City - that final scene was, well, haunting.
Swing Joined: 4/6/23
Chorus Member Joined: 9/26/22
Bug
A production a few years ago at Steppenwolf with Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood, the building tension was unlike anything I had seen on any stage.
Understudy Joined: 1/17/18
I'm a big fan of mystery/thriller plays and was fortunate to see many of them during their heyday in the 1970's on Broadway. There have been a few decent ones in the last decade. Hoping that the Grey House and the Broadway production of the Mousetraps will start a resurgence of this classic genre.
Here are some of my all-time favorites.
Deathrap
Corpse
An Inspector Calls
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and the Crucifer of Blood
Sleuth
Dracula
The Seafarer
Mauritius
Small Engine Repair
The Innocents
The Pillowman
Let the Right One In.
Swing Joined: 11/5/22
A production of The Woman in Black that played here in Chicago a few years ago was wonderfully creepy.
I guess I'd also have to say Death Trap, but I saw it so long ago that I have only vague memories of it.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/08
Jarethan said: "The Pillowman was an incredible theatregoing experience. It definitely gave me the creeps. Lee Remick in Wait Until Dark definitely received the loudest audience screams I have witnessed. This list makes me realize that there really have not been a lot of good suspense plays."
I am too young by a few years to have seen Wait Until Dark with Lee Remick and Robert Duvall, though I did see the movie (with my parents) a couple of years later. Remick and Duvall had screen pedigree so it's interesting that they were not cast in the film (well, Duvall's pedigree came a little later though he is great in To Kill A Mockingbird), but one can't complain about Hepburn and Arkin in the film. That climax brought a collective scream out of the audience in the movie theatre! I imagine it was unforgettable live.
the big twist in Deathtrap shook me the first time.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/20
I saw Woman in Black, and by intermission I had to leave. Waaaaay too creepy for me.
Hal Prince's production of THE VISIT with the New Phoenix Rep (with John McMartin and Rachel Roberts) in the mid-1970's. A remarkable production I will never forget.
Death and the Maiden: those final twenty minutes
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/20
I wonder if we'll be adding Grey House to this thread
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