Agatha Christie’s legendary thriller The Mousetrap, the longest-running show in British theatre history, celebrates 60 incredible years on stage with its first ever tour. It’s not Christie’s best – but it’s a classic, well-structured whodunnit.
Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and Adam Spiegel’s version is keeping packed Congress Theatre audiences enthralled with a mixture of suspense, red herrings and humour. They do full justice to Christie’s clever, intricate plot – though there are still a few implausible situations.
The tension mounts as a murderer being hunted by police strikes again, while the second act sees sordid secrets dragged out from the suspects under interrogation – until the villain is unmasked in an unexpected twist.
Joanna Croll and Henry Luxemburg impress as a young married couple who turn a Berkshire manor house, left by an aunt, into a guest house. The guests are typical Christie types, including a camp eccentric (Ryan Saunders), Tweedy battle-axe Mrs Boyle (Anne Kavanagh) and a major (Chris Gilling). Although the country house is cut off by snow, a dogged policeman (Jonathan Woolf) arrives on skis.
The direction of Ian Watt-Smith and an authentic wood-panelled set help create the right atmosphere as, one by one, the guests and hosts are accused.
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