When The Mousetrap opened in London, on November 25th 1952, Agatha Christie herself was hopeful that it might survive for eight months. The producer of the show, Peter Saunders, was slightly more optimistic when he suggested that they could hope for a maximum of 14 months. Well, 22 years later the show closed at The Ambassadors Theatre only to immediately reopen next door at the Ambassadors Theatre – a home it still occupies over 40 years later.
There is no other production anywhere in the world that can boast a run of 63 years (and still counting) but, there is no author with the continued appeal of Agatha Christie. When she died, in 1976, sales of her books on a worldwide basis were only exceeded by the works of William Shakespeare and The Bible.
To celebrate it’s 60 year West End run The Mousetrap launched a nationwide tour in 2014 which, due to overwhelming public demand, has continued right through to the end of this year and, judging by the reaction of the huge Assembly Hall Theatre audience, may well carry on even longer.
The setting for Mousetrap is typically Christie. An imposing wood-paneled country guest house, in winter, where a number of wealthy guests find themselves cut off by the snow – with the possibility that there is a murderer in their midst.
With a cast of just eight, this production is a perfect example of an ensemble performance. All the actors work very hard to maintain their character traits, to drop in a few clues, deliver some very funny one-liners and leave a lot of “red herrings” in the process, as the plot begins to unfold before us.
Nick Barclay and Anna Andresen make a very convincing couple as Mr and Mrs Ralston, the owners of the country home, which they have decided to open up as a guest house, with most of the rest of the cast appearing as their, increasingly eccentric, guests.
As the never satisfied Mrs Boyle, Sarah Whitlock is simply superb (and very reminiscent of some of my elderly relatives) with Tony Boncza equally good as retired military man, Major Metcalf.
The remainder of the guests are played by Amy Downham, as the secretive Miss Casewell, Gregory Cox as the creepy Mr Paravicini and Oliver Gully as the seriously strange, would-be architect, Christopher Wren, with the final part of Sgt Trotter, who arrives to solve the mystery, played by Lewis Collier.
From curtain up right through to the dramatic events that end the tale, the entire audience sits in total silence, all looking for the slightest clue that may help to find the answer to the world’s greatest “Whodunnit”.
By the end of the show, of course, we all know the identity of the murderer but we, as with every audience over the last 63 years, are asked to keep that secret firmly locked in our hearts. This is a task that we, as a mark of respect to such a wonderfully crafted piece of theatre and its magnificent author, are only too happy to carry out.
***** Five Stars
