The Mousetrap Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 25th April 2023 Review
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh this week (Tue 25 to Sat 29 April) as part of the show’s 70th anniversary tour, and since its first performance in 1952 this show has become not just a classic work of theatre, but a theatrical institution. If the packed theatre tonight is any way to judge the popularity of “The Mousetrap”, then expecting a 100th anniversary tour of this show in future years is a high probability too.
The setting of this play has pretty much defined the classic murder mystery genre on stage (and other media) and so much of what has followed it has been a re-arrangement of this “Mousetrap” and its basic building blocks in one way or another. In The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie assembles her murder mystery building blocks perfectly.
The setting is Monkswell Manor, an English rural guest house run by Mollie and Giles Ralston and we find out very quickly, via a newspaper report, that the police are on the lookout for whoever committed a recent murder in London, only some 30 miles away. This is the first day of the guest house being open for business and the weather outside is getting worse and worse as the snowfall increases, blocks off roads, and isolates the guest house with its odd mixture of arrivals both expected and unexpected. Weaving its way through this story line is a musical thread – “Three Blind Mice” and what does it mean to one person in the room in particular?
The Mousetrap was written as a stage play by Agatha Christie, so we have none of the compromises that usually have to take place when adapting a book or film to the theatre. This story is purely as the author intended and her use of dialogue, her attention to detail in the body language of the characters, and an intuitive insight into their psychological profiles clearly show a very skilled writer at work. For stage, keeping things simple so often seems to work best, and this one room stage setting is a perfect example of this in practice. Still though, with careful use of dialogue from everyone in the room, Agatha Christie takes us into other rooms inside this house, gives us a layout of how these all connect to one another and also describes the immediate outside areas too. One room on stage, but our imaginations are put to work here and we all probably see a slightly different Monkswell Manor in our own minds.
This production by Adam Spiegel, directed by Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey, is pretty much as perfect as any Agatha Christie play is going to be and an excellent cast not only bring to life the very distinctive, and at times almost stereotyped caricature guests, but also the very sharp and witty humour of much of Agatha Christie’s dialogue. Some of these people are so over the top in their mannerisms that I sometimes wonder if Agatha Christie has been having her own laugh with her take on some stereotypes all along.
There are no weak links in performances on stage here, everyone seems not only perfect for their role, but also to often be just enjoying the opportunity to be a part of “The Mousetrap” legend for a little while. Our cast for this production are
Joelle Dyson- Mollie Ralston
Laurence Pears- Giles Ralston
Elliot Clay- Christopher Wren
Gwyneth Strong- Mrs Boyle
Kieran Brown- Mr Paravicini
Todd Carty- Major Metcalf
Essie Barrow- Miss Casewell
Joseph Reed- Detective Sgt Trotter
Originally, 70 years ago, The Mousetrap would have been a contemporary work of theatre, and now it is a work that requires much attention to detail to retain that now period authenticity and this is achieved by a very good stage and costume design team, plus very good and often subtle in their use, sound and lights.
Over the years, times have changed, attitudes have changed, and The Mousetrap has by necessity stayed in its own little time bubble. In some ways, it has become a delightful parody on a way of life and people who belong in this time bubble, but it does it all so well that we all keep coming back to see this play time after time. Perhaps a little part of us just wants to be in a world where the pressures of modern day life and its often intrusive technology are decades away in the future.
Who did it then? That answer is a simple one…the killer.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The setting of this play has pretty much defined the classic murder mystery genre on stage (and other media) and so much of what has followed it has been a re-arrangement of this “Mousetrap” and its basic building blocks in one way or another. In The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie assembles her murder mystery building blocks perfectly.
The setting is Monkswell Manor, an English rural guest house run by Mollie and Giles Ralston and we find out very quickly, via a newspaper report, that the police are on the lookout for whoever committed a recent murder in London, only some 30 miles away. This is the first day of the guest house being open for business and the weather outside is getting worse and worse as the snowfall increases, blocks off roads, and isolates the guest house with its odd mixture of arrivals both expected and unexpected. Weaving its way through this story line is a musical thread – “Three Blind Mice” and what does it mean to one person in the room in particular?
The Mousetrap was written as a stage play by Agatha Christie, so we have none of the compromises that usually have to take place when adapting a book or film to the theatre. This story is purely as the author intended and her use of dialogue, her attention to detail in the body language of the characters, and an intuitive insight into their psychological profiles clearly show a very skilled writer at work. For stage, keeping things simple so often seems to work best, and this one room stage setting is a perfect example of this in practice. Still though, with careful use of dialogue from everyone in the room, Agatha Christie takes us into other rooms inside this house, gives us a layout of how these all connect to one another and also describes the immediate outside areas too. One room on stage, but our imaginations are put to work here and we all probably see a slightly different Monkswell Manor in our own minds.
This production by Adam Spiegel, directed by Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey, is pretty much as perfect as any Agatha Christie play is going to be and an excellent cast not only bring to life the very distinctive, and at times almost stereotyped caricature guests, but also the very sharp and witty humour of much of Agatha Christie’s dialogue. Some of these people are so over the top in their mannerisms that I sometimes wonder if Agatha Christie has been having her own laugh with her take on some stereotypes all along.
There are no weak links in performances on stage here, everyone seems not only perfect for their role, but also to often be just enjoying the opportunity to be a part of “The Mousetrap” legend for a little while. Our cast for this production are
Joelle Dyson- Mollie Ralston
Laurence Pears- Giles Ralston
Elliot Clay- Christopher Wren
Gwyneth Strong- Mrs Boyle
Kieran Brown- Mr Paravicini
Todd Carty- Major Metcalf
Essie Barrow- Miss Casewell
Joseph Reed- Detective Sgt Trotter
Originally, 70 years ago, The Mousetrap would have been a contemporary work of theatre, and now it is a work that requires much attention to detail to retain that now period authenticity and this is achieved by a very good stage and costume design team, plus very good and often subtle in their use, sound and lights.
Over the years, times have changed, attitudes have changed, and The Mousetrap has by necessity stayed in its own little time bubble. In some ways, it has become a delightful parody on a way of life and people who belong in this time bubble, but it does it all so well that we all keep coming back to see this play time after time. Perhaps a little part of us just wants to be in a world where the pressures of modern day life and its often intrusive technology are decades away in the future.
Who did it then? That answer is a simple one…the killer.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com