Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap: 70th Anniversary Tour

Yesterday I went to the Theatre Royal to see one of Christie’s most famous plays performed. I was aware of its status as the world’s longest running play, but my programme provided some further staggering statistics:

• ‘David Raven played Major Metcalf continuously for 11 years from 1957 to 1968, clocking up 4575 performances […]’
• ‘Nancy Seabrooke retired at the age of 79 in March 1994, having understudied Mrs Boyle for 6240 performances. The ever-patient Miss Seabrooke had been rewarded for her loyalty by going on 72 times, an annual average of five appearances in the 15 years she spent with The Mousetrap.’
• ‘In June 1973, Adelaide Woodvine, box office manageress [at St Martin’s Theatre] for more than 20 years, retired, having sold more than £2m worth of Mousetrap tickets. Ironically, she hadn’t actually found time to see the show, an oversight she remedied shortly afterwards.’
• ‘Even the set showed similar powers of endurance. It wasn’t until 2004 that the leather armchair, having given sterling service since 1952, was retired from active duty.’

This is the second time that I have seen The Mousetrap at Newcastle, but I went with my sister who had not seen it before (and who had for years been assiduously avoiding reading the short story the play was based on and the script itself). During my first viewing of the play a few years ago I managed to hit upon the identity of the killer in the intermission, so with the pressure off on having to solve the mystery, I was curious to see what I noticed about the play.

What follows are just some reflections I had on this performance, and this is not a review of Christie’s original play/script in particular and it would be lovely to hear about other people’s experiences of watching the play elsewhere.

However, I must warn you that beyond this point there are spoilers, so only continue reading if you have already seen or read the play.

One of the overriding thoughts I had by the interval this time round was how the mystery was being played much more for laughs. The first performance I saw a few years ago had its funny moments, but yesterday’s production seemed to crank up the comedy intensity and the actor playing the role of Christopher Wren led this comedy well. However, what drew my attention to the higher amount of humour was the way the audience reacted to the murder of Mrs Boyle, the death which closes the first act. In the first production I watched there was a strong build up of tension and drama for this killing, but I found this was not the case with the performance I saw yesterday. It is hard to say if there was an attempt to suddenly switch to drama and tension, but as the strangled cries of Mrs Boyle rung out, I heard quite a number of titters and laughs. And my reaction to this intrigued me, as internally I asked myself: Should we be laughing at this point? Mrs Boyle is not a likeable character by any stretch of the imagination, but laughing at her death which we could hear but not see, didn’t feel right. I don’t remember such laughs with the previous performance I viewed.

Yet this seems to have been one of the consequences of having comedy as the driving force of the piece; it shuts down other options. The second attempt of murder on the stage also lacked tension in the run up to it and during the attempt itself, which we could see this time. Moreover, I thought the showdown for the murderer and the wrap up of the case came across as truncated and rushed. It felt like these non-humorous parts were being hurried through so the play could return to the final comic scene in which we see the Ralstons reunite and Major Metcalf reveals who he really is. In this rushing I did wonder if there was a slip up in that Giles Ralston comes on stage to comfort his wife (who has nearly been killed by the murderer) and he mentions his shock at the fact that the man they thought was the policeman come to protect them, was in fact the culprit. Yet how does he know who is guilty as he was not part of the reveal scene and the solution wrap up? Did another character tell him off stage?

Whilst there are some characters to whom the comedy naturally gravitated towards; I would say the humour is spread out around nearly all the characters. I say nearly, as  another thing that I noticed is that Detective Sergeant Trotter is the only character who wasn’t played strongly comical like the others. This is not a bad thing per se, but I felt like it made him stand out and set apart. You could argue that is because this production is trying to get you on side with Trotter, as he faces a barrage of obstruction from the other inhabitants of Monkswell Manor guest house, and you can feel his frustration as he gives the impression of trying to solve the case. But another part of me wonders whether the way Trotter comes across as the “straight man” in this comedy, highlights a little too much the possibility that he could be the killer. My sister, like me, alighted upon him as the culprit, and this was partially due to the fact that everyone else seemed like too obvious a choice.

Nevertheless, this was a play which got everyone talking during the interval, trying to work out whodunit and it was a fun way to spend an afternoon.

But what about your experiences of The Mousetrap? Have you seen a performance which was more comedy and less tension? Have you seen a more unusual rendition of it?