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The senior citizen of whodunits!
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap
Malvern Theatres
*** I SUPPOSE this is as good a time as any to confess that I have never read a book by Agatha Christie. As if writing around a hundred books and almost
twenty plays, being translated into over a hundred languages and being
the best-selling mystery writer of all time were not impressive enough,
Christie also has a vast audience who, like me, are familiar with her
work solely through film and television adaptations. The Mousetrap
has unusual and regal origins. When asked by the BBC what she would like
for her eightieth birthday in 1947, Queen Mary, King George VI’s mother,
replied that she would rather like a play by Agatha Christie. Christie dutifully wrote a short radio play,
Three Blind Mice, which she then developed into The Mousetrap
which premiered in 1952 and which she reportedly believed would not run
for long. Sixty two years later and the play is still going strong. It
is the world's longest running stage production, and these Malvern shows
make up part of The Mousetrap’s diamond anniversary tour. The plot is a familiar one: a group of apparent
strangers, including a mysterious foreigner, is trapped in a large
country house cut off from civilisation, in this case by snow, when a
murderer strikes. This comes straight after a woman’s murder in London,
and there are fears that what links these two deaths must inevitably
lead to a third. Every character is a suspect, and each has secrets they
try hard to conceal. Will the killer be uncovered in time to stop
another death? The ingredients of a great mystery are all there. However, despite the play’s reputation and
longevity, I found the production failed to impress. The set was grand
and the snow falling outside the windows was convincing enough, I just
felt that there was a lack of atmosphere and tension throughout. The
first scene introduced us to the main characters and the second scene
introduced Detective Sergeant Trotter (played by Luke Jenkins). The
pipes are frozen. The phone line is dead. The characters are all still
alive. The pace feels incredibly slow and I find myself willing someone
to die. Eventually our murderer does the deed, in what must be one of
the least dramatic stage murders ever. Mollie Ralston screams, the
audience laughs, and the curtain comes down. The second half of the play sees the hidden
histories of these strange personalities slowly uncovered. They are
inevitably afraid and suspicious of each other. Giles Ralston and his
wife (Henry Luxemburg and Helen Clapp) come to doubt each other, Major
Metcalf (Christopher Gilling) seems oddly aloof, and Mr Paravicini
(played rakishly by Michael Fenner) is downright creepy. And what is the
real story of the childlike Christopher Wren (Stephen Yeo) and the true
reason for this rare trip to England by Miss Casewell (Charlotte
Latham)? The trouble was I really didn’t care. At the end
of the production we were asked to keep to ourselves the mystery of the
murderer’s identity. The second half of the night was ruined for me
though as I’d worked out before the end of the first half who was
guilty, and that’s not something I ever do if watching a Poirot or Miss
Marple, when so many people seem to have had a motive and opportunity to
kill. Many in the audience were surprised though, if
the gasps at the reveal were anything to go by, so I’m sure a lot of
people went away thoroughly entertained and satisfied. I can’t help
wondering what all the fuss is about though, and suspect that many go to
see The Mousetrap to find that out for themselves, thus creating a
never-ending audience keen to understand the secret of the play’s
success. Christie herself hinted that it might be down to
the tale’s humour and lack of real violence, and it is, as she
commented, a harmless play that anyone could watch without being
frightened. And of course nobody would watch or read Agatha Christie
expecting to be terrified, but I had hoped for some kind of intrigue,
suspense and misdirection or even to like some of the characters. I was
disappointed on all counts. Easy watching, and a strangely enduring
phenomenon in itself, The Mousetrap continues its tour of Britain
and will no doubt leave Christie fans happy. To 18-10-14. Amy Rainbow 13-10-14
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