At the end of the Mousetrap the cast tell us to keep the secret of the Mousetrap a, well, secret. So there will be no spoilers within this short review the day after seeing the world’s longest running play on its first ever tour to celebrate its sixty years.
‘The Mousetrap’ tells the story of a meeting of guests at ‘Monk’s Well Manor’ guest house in the wake of a murder in London and they soon come to suspect another murder will take place there and suspicions fall on everyone to whom is behind the plot.
That’s all I’ll give you of the story but needless to say that fans of Agatha Christie’s work will not be disappointed in the unravelling mystery. The characters are all strongly written and the script buzzed with intrigue, and humour, and the cast without exception embodied the personalities perfectly.
Star of the show was Steven France as the camp Christopher Wren, who had most of the best lines and stage presence, alongside Thomas Howes as Sergeant Trotter who played the role of the policeman with relish with one of the best entrances of a character I’ve seen on stage.
Bruno Langley and Jemma Walker as the married couple who own the guest house felt convincing as a young couple in love with Langley proving his acting is more diverse than just a soap opera, and Karl Howman as Mr Paravicini – ticking that box of slightly dodgy foreigner against a pseudo-racist other cast member so famous from Christie’s work – was decidedly well done. Jan Waters, reprising her role of Mrs Boyle from the London performance, was absolutely brilliant as the stuck-up Mrs Boyle and Clare Wilkie and Graham Seed rounded up the cast with some very nuanced performances, with Wilkie the master of the subtle facial expression.
The set was another brilliant example of what can be done on stage, with excellent use of light, and of snow machines, but occasionally with the distracting sound of a vacuum cleaner off stage during the first half.
Overall, a really excellent and enjoyable performance with the two-and-a-half hours flying by quickly. The cast were uniformly excellent and the build up of the plot as good as any of Christie’s work. If you’re familiar with the author’s back catalogue as I am then you may well guess the murderer pretty quickly – I did two thirds into act one – but this doesn’t detract from an enjoyable production.
A few years ago I went to the Grand Opera House in York to see Ken Dodd. The sound was terrible and the atmosphere uncomfortable, but I’m glad to report it was much better this time down in the stalls rather than the upper circle.
‘The Mousetrap’ is well worth seeing for fans of Agatha Christie and newcomers alike; see it while you can on its nationwide tour.
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