Steve Tague is New Producing Artistic Director at The REP

The contents of this post come from a press release courtesy of The Resident Ensemble Players...

Steve Tague has officially been named the Producing Artistic Director of the Resident Ensemble Players (REP), the professional theatre company in residence at the University of Delaware. Steve has served as the Interim Producing Artistic Director of the REP and Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Delaware for nearly two years.

“I’ve spent a great deal of time in the last two years getting to know the REP’s audience,” says Steve Tague. “It’s been a pleasure. I love hearing about their deep connection to the theatre.”

Steve Tague, new Producing Artistic Director
of The REP. Photo courtesy of The REP.

Steve spent the early part of his life as an actor, performing at regional theatres including Seattle Repertory Theater, A Contemporary Theatre, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, Walnut Street Theater, the Arden Theater, Sierra Repertory Theater, Delaware Theater Company, and was a founding member of the Resident Ensemble Players’ Acting Company.

Steve joined the faculty at the University of Delaware in 1992 and shifted more of his attention to teaching and directing. As a faculty member, he has taught courses for the PTTP in acting, movement, speech, and voice. As a director, he has directed productions with Delaware Theatre Company, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, and the Resident Ensemble Players since its founding in 2008.

In 2022, when the REP’s founder Sandy Robbins announced his plans to step down, Steve Tague agreed to serve as an Interim Producing Artistic Director of the REP and Interim Chairperson of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Delaware as a national search for a successor was conducted. After conducting a search, Steve Tague has agreed to throw off the “Interim” in the title and take on the challenges of leading the REP into its next chapter.

“I’m focused on the future of performing arts in the Delaware region,” says Tague. “I’m dedicated to growth for the REP, and our audience and community will be a vital part of that. We’re also introducing two new majors in our department, one in theatre and one in dance. It’s very exciting to serve young and old, and everybody in-between, throughout the region with the beauty of the performing arts.”

ABOUT THE REP
The Resident Ensemble Players (REP) is a professional theatre company in residence on the campus of the University of Delaware. The REP’s mission is to engage audiences throughout the tri-state region and beyond with frequent productions of outstanding classic, modern, and contemporary plays performed in a wide variety of styles that celebrate and demonstrate the range and breadth of an ensemble of nationally respected stage actors. The REP is committed to creating and expanding audiences for live theatre by offering a diversity of productions at low prices that enable and encourage the attendance of everyone in the region, regardless of background or income. The REP performs in the Roselle Center for the Arts, 110 Orchard Road, Newark, Delaware on the main campus of the University of Delaware.

Fall Into the "Deathtrap" with The Rep This Month

By Mike Logothetis
Theater reviewer Mike Logothetis grew up in North Wilmington, performing in school and local theater productions. He lives in Newark, but you can find him wherever the arts are good.

The Resident Ensemble Players (REP) fully deliver in the form of Ira Levin’s 1978 Edgar Award-winning play Deathtrap – a dark thriller with a perfect blend of schemes, plot-twists, and black humor.

Ira Levin's Deathtrap playing now at The REP.
Photo courtesy of The REP.

Formerly successful playwright Sidney Bruhl (Lee E. Ernst) has had a recent string of theatrical failures; is dealing with writer’s block; and is getting short on cash. A potential change in fortune arrives in the form of a brilliant script sent by former student Clifford Anderson (Mic Matarrese). Clifford’s thriller – also titled Deathtrap – has all the makings of a Broadway hit. Sidney tells his wife, Myra (Elizabeth Heflin), that the student’s play could put him back on top if he steals it and passes it off as his own. But for that to work, Clifford would have to be out of the picture. Permanently. Myra sees the wheels in Sidney’s head turning and hopes the unthinkable hasn’t really been considered. Sindey assures Myra he is only kidding and would never truly entertain such an atrocity just to steal a script. But the play is called Deathtrap…

“I’m interested in the thievery,” says Interim Producing Artistic Director Steve Tague. “It is an old premise, but we don’t seem to get tired of it. What are we willing to do for success, or money, or fame, or admiration?”

Director Michael Gotch keeps the pacing tight and uses the wonderful set by Stephanie Hansen in ominous and oddly comforting ways. When Sidney isn’t scheming, he’s enjoying his brandy by the fire and fawning over his collectibles – various weaponry. But when his doddering evil takes hold of him, Sidney’s surroundings become his killing fields. Credit to Ernst for appearing tough to decipher when he’s being nice and when he’s sizing up his prey.

Matarese is solid playing a character who may just be too smart for his own good. His Clifford initially seems overwhelmed, but grows bolder and more driven in purpose as Act II develops.  The cast also includes REP company members Stephen Pelinski (attorney Porter Milgrim) and Kathleen Pirkl Tague (psychic Helga ten Dorp). The portrayal of ten Dorp is somewhat over-the-top, but provides humorous portents of things to come and unknown things that were. Plus, her hair – and that of Matarese – are glorious. Kudos to Denise O’Brien for her wig design.

The show is a pleasure to experience and holds up well after almost 50 years. Celebrated author Chuck Palahniuk praised Deathtrap thusly: “Everything looks so gorgeous and simple and approachable, but on the other hand, it’s so incredibly complicated and beautifully assembled.” I concur.

With over 1800 performances, Deathtrap is known as one of Broadway’s greatest successes. It was even adapted into a film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. Interim Producing Artistic Director Tague concludes: “The consequences of deception are the deliciousness of this play. It’s a wicked, outrageous romp that won’t disappoint.” 

Warning: This production includes strobe lights, gunshots, violence, and profanity. Many audience members gasped and visibly reacted to some of the surprises the plot revealed. 

Performances of Deathtrap run April 11-28 with Opening Night being April 13. Informal talkbacks with the cast take place following the evening performances on Thursday April 13 and Friday April 26. Two “prologues” occur on Saturday April 20 and Sunday April 28. Tickets prices range from $30-39 with discounts available for students, seniors, plus University of Delaware faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased online at www.rep.udel.edu; by contacting the REP box office at (302)831-2204; or visiting in person at 110 Orchard Road Tuesdays through Fridays from 12 to 5 PM. The show runs approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes with one 15-minute intermission between acts.

The Thompson Theatre at the Roselle Center for the Arts is located on the University of Delaware’s Newark campus and is ADA-compliant. It is equipped with a hearing loop system, which works with hearing aid t-coils, cochlear implants, and in-house hearing devices. Wheelchair and other seating requests can be made prior to the performance by calling (302)831-2204 or emailing cfa-boxoffice@udel.edu.

The preface to the published script describes it as "...something so evil that it infects all who touch it...” but I would say it entertains all who witness it. Call it a Murder Game…