The Mousetrap returns to the QPAC
returns to Brisbane after an incredible sell-out tour in 2022.
The sinister whistling of the nursery rhyme
Three Blind Mice echoed around the hushed theatre whilst the victim lies strangled in the drawing room. There are seven other people in the boarding house, all have lied and all could be connected. It is up to you to determine the devious murderer using Christie's clues before the final big reveal.
Agatha Christie's
The Mousetrap is performing an encore tour of Australia, to fulfil audience demand with
John Roads for Crossroads Live after last year's Platinum Jubilee (70th) tour.
As the World's longest-running play. It is a rarely given opportunity for producer John Frost to present an Australian production of the most famous 'who dunnit', and witness the epitome of live English theatre without the need of the dreaded long-haul flights. Frost exclaimed, "We are so excited to present a new production of this enduring and much-loved murder mystery to Australian audiences."
The Mousetrap originally premiered on the 6th of October 1952 at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham before opening at London's West End at the Ambassadors Theatre. Due to its popularity, it transferred to the larger St Martin's Theatre next door in 1974 and except for COVID lockdowns it has clocked up 8 shows a week for seventy years equating to over 28,500 performances!
It is the quintessential 'who done it' and the blueprint for all other murder mysteries, even the inspiration for the board game
Cluedo. Christie originally wrote it as the radio play
Three Blind Mice which was broadcast in 1947 as a birthday present for Queen Mary, before she adapted it into a short story and finally into the stage play
The Mousetrap.
Christie was so sure that it would only have a short theatre run that she famously stated that no film of it could be produced until at least six months after the West End Production closed, yet remarkably it is still running! The recent film
See How They Run avoided the Christie clause by concentrating on the staging of
The Mousetrap set in 1953 when somebody is murdered in the wings. Fortunately, it has whetted the appetite of Australians to now know and want to see the play.
Director Robyn Nevin has crafted a skilled and experienced ensemble of actors, all with convincing English accents (which as a pom myself, I consider very important), all with a brilliant knack of comical timing. I have been fortunate to see
The Mousetrap many times, twice in the original St Martin's Theatre. The accents of the Australian group were so authentic that I was sure it must have been the original ensemble on tour!
The well-designed set by Robert Furse has many doorways and a large window and is based on the 1952 original of the drawing room of Monkswell Manor. Mollie (Annie O'Byrne) and Giles Ralston (Alex Rathgeber) are awaiting their first guests at the remote country guest house when a snowstorm hinders their arrival and causes others to turn up unexpectedly. With eight very diverse characters trapped and isolated in a large house together, you could expect some friction, but when there is a murder, everyone has somewhere to point their finger.
Anna O'Byrne won a
Helpmann Award in 2017 as Eliza in
My Fair Lady and was convincing as Mollie, the gentle and optimistic young entrepreneur. Alex Rathgeber, playing her husband Giles, is a great match, acting with suave confidence, but with a suspicious underlying current.
Each character has their moments; Gerry Connolly uses his witty comic genius to recreate the obnoxious Italian know-it-all, Mr Paravacini. He brought a haunting edge by playing and whistling the sinister nursery tune
Three Blind Mice throughout the scenes adding to the tension.
A favourite character was the young off-balanced architect Christopher Wren, played masterfully by Laurence Boxhall. His energy and presence filled the stage when he was acting in a crazy and extroverted manner. Then he would instantly transition to a tormented and fragile childlike character that made you want to tuck him into bed and tell him everything would be okay. Tom Conroy as Detective Sergeant Trotter was also impressive, especially when using his manipulative questioning techniques.
It was fascinating to hear the gasps from the audience as plot twists were revealed. Like all members of the secret club who already know the identity of the killer, it was fun to revel in that knowledge when theories and predictions were overheard in the bar at half-time.
Can you deduce who the murderer is?
This Australian production of
The Mousetrap is a great testament to the original preserving the anachronistic charm of the original. As producer John Frost said "With new films and television mini-series based on her books, there has been a resurgence of interest in Agatha Christie's thrillers, and the novels are selling more than ever!"
You must not miss this second opportunity to witness the longest-running play of all time from the master of crime, Agatha Christie. See if you can solve the mystery and identify the murderer before the big reveal.
Like the millions who already know who did it, the answer is to be trapped, like the mouse, and we're not telling!
Book your tickets now
here.
