This dark comedy tells the story of playwright Sidney Bruhl, who has not had a hit show in years. A possible break in his fortunes occurs when he receives a script from a student in the seminar he's been conducting at a nearby college - a thriller that Sidney recognizes immediately as a potential Broadway smash. Sidney's plan, devised with his wife's help, is to offer collaboration to the student for co-credit. Or, is it?

Deathtrap is a 1978 American play written by Ira Levin with many plot twists and refers to itself as a play within a play. It holds the record for the longest running comedy-thriller on Broadway and was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Play.

Ten strangers are summoned to a remote island. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. As the weather turns and the group is cut off from the mainland, the bloodbath begins and one by one they are brutally murdered in accordance with the lines of a sinister nursery rhyme.