The latest in 99-Seat Beat

Actress talks about growing up biracial in “Mulatto Love Child,” “The Women” invades a boutique, more.

The essentials: The prolific veteran director Jules Aaron directs this revival of the comic thriller by Ira Levin, a master of ingenious stage plotting who also wrote novels (“Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Stepford Wives”) that proved catnip to movie studios.

Why this? “Deathtrap” may have acquired a whiff of the attic since it premiered in 1978, especially in its daring-for-its-time but timid-in-retrospect use of homosexuality as a plot device. (In his 1982 film adaptation, Sidney Lumet added a fiery onscreen kiss between two men that, although it isn’t in the original script, made its way into subsequent stage revivals. Levin’s estate has since denied that he intended the characters to be lovers.) Still it’s hard to beat this “real stage stunner,” as the Guardian once described the Tony-nominated play, for edge-of-your-seat twists and turns that are best experienced live.

Details: The Group Rep, Lonny Chapman Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. FridaysSaturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; ends May 2. $25. (818)7635990, www.thegrouprep .com

The 99-Seat Beat appears every Friday. Our reviewers shortlist offerings with an emphasis on 99-seat theaters and other smaller venues. Some (but not all) recommendations are shows we’ve seen; others have caught our attention because of the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. Comprehensive theater listings are posted every Sunday at latimes.com/arts.