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 production launched a nationwide tour which, due to overwhelming public demand, will continue right through to the end of this year and, judging by the Devonshire Park audience reaction, may well carry on even longer.
The setting for Mousetrap is typically Christie. An imposing wood-panelled 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 emsemble performance. All the actors work very hard to maintain their character traits and to drop in a few clues, and a lot of “red herrings” as the plot begins to unfold before us.
Mark Homer and Esther McAuley 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, Anne Kavanagh is simply superb (and very reminiscent of some of my elderly relatives) with William Ilkley equally good as retired military man, Major Metcalf.
The remainder of the guests are played by Hester Arden, as the secretive Miss Casewell, Jonathan Sidgwick as the creepy Mr Paravicini and Edward Elgood as the seriously strange, would-be architect, Christopher Wren, with the final part of Sgt Trotter, who arrives to solve the mystery, played by Luke Jenkins.
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 *****