Worthing - twisty thriller will give audiences that "Ooooh!" moment

She will be getting plenty of that when she directs the Rustington Players for their production of Deathtrap by Ira Levin from June 15-18 at the Woodlands Centre. Rustington, BN16 3HB. Performances are 7.30pm; doors and bar open 7pm. Tickets are available from ticketsource.co.uk/rustingtonplayers or call 07546 306438. Also available on the door.

The main character, the ageing playwright Sidney Bruhl (Martin Sworn), desperately needs to write another best-seller. He receives a brilliant script from a student and decides with his wife Myra (Sarah Johnson) to murder the author, Clifford Anderson (Zahir White), and pass the play off as his own as it’s sure to be a huge success… .

Marlene said: “I think everyone loves a good thriller at some point.

"They love something that is going to make them gasp. We all want something shocking though not necessarily all the way through but there are certainly some sinister moments in this. For me I just love that gasp, that little rush that you get when you sense from the audience ‘Oh, I didn't expect that to happen!’ and you can feel them wondering what is going to happen next and then there is another twist and then you get that gasp again.

“The audience are being constantly manipulated and they really become involved in what is happening with their minds being changed all the time.”

The play is the second choice that Marlene offered to the company. It was thought that her first choice was more comedy thriller and they wanted something a bit different, though actually this play also gets categorised as a comedy thriller – something Marlene would dispute.

“I read it as a straight thriller. I knew it because of the film from way back with Michael Caine in as a thriller and yet curiously if you look at some of the publications, they say this play a comedy thriller. There are lines that are amusing certainly but it is not a comedy by any means.

“To direct a thriller I do think you have to have a certain mindset but I think it's easier to do than directing comedy. If you've got a good writer, such as we have with this one, then it is all there for you and if you've got a good cast that understand the characters and that have discussed the characters and get the inferences behind it all – and I have certainly got that – then all is good.

" I've got an excellent cast. It took me four days of auditioning to get the cast and they have really got a sense of the play.

“I do think comedy is harder. There is a natural ability in comedy acting that you need. But I do prefer a straight play or a thriller. I like the occasional comedy but I do enjoy thrillers more, and with a play I love that feeling when you reach the point where you start thinking that you would love to just sit and watch the piece in the audience.”