Review: The Mousetrap at The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
★★★★
The longest-running West End show and longest continuously-running play worldwide, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap embarks on its 75th anniversary tour across the UK and Ireland, with a stop at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre this Autumn.
An entertaining murder mystery full of clues and shifting shadows, The Mousetrap boasts being the best-kept secret in theatre history, with audiences traditionally asked not to reveal the ending when they leave the auditorium. In fact, the contract terms for the play insist that no film adaptation can be produced unless the West End show has been closed for at least six months.
In true Agatha Christie style, the play centres a group of strangers who find themselves in a remote countryside guesthouse, where they are snowed in until further notice. Alongside the audience, they learn the news of a murder that has taken place in London. When a police Sergeant arrives, the guests are shocked to discover they could be connected. There’s a killer in their midst, and as their own sordid pasts and secrets begin to unravel, everyone is asking the same questions. Who is the killer? And who will their next victim be?
The Mousetrap Emily Laing as Mollie Ralston, Jack Hardwick as Giles Ralston, Thomas Barrett as Christopher Wren, Susan Penhaligon as Mrs Boyle, Nicholas Bailey as Major Metcalfe, Clare Duffy as Miss Casewell, James Peake as Mr Paravicini, and Alfie Richards as Detective Sergeant Trotter. This well-trodden play features a small cast whose task is to pull the audience in to the web of deception spun by Agatha Christie, and keep you guessing until the very end.
Despite the age of this post-war piece, much of its reflections on prejudices and human nature are still relevant to this day. Queer-coded characters are labelled ‘peculiar’ but this is played by the cast in a way that pokes fun at those outdated stereotypes.
A slow building mystery, this classic whodunnit is full of intriguing characters and false clues that culminate in the final reveal. The writing features in-your-face foreshadowing alongside humour, which is particularly well punctuated by James Peake as Mr Paravicini.
A tale of doubt, suspicion and questioning, where nobody is quite what they seem, even the people you think you know. This world-famous mystery remains a bucket list show for Agatha Christie fans.
This review was written following a press invite to the production.
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