- In
- On August 26, 2024
The longest-running show on the West End, The Mousetrap has been running for over 70 years. Yes, that’s right… 70 years! Agatha Christie’s iconic murder mystery play continues to keep audiences guessing night after night.
The Mousetrap first opened in London’s West End in 1952 with Richard Attenborough as Detective Sergeant Trotter and his wife Sheila Sim as Mollie Ralston. The play is based on a short story, which is itself based on the radio play but Christie asked that the story not be published as long as the play ran in the West End.
When she originally wrote the play, Christie gave the rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard as a birthday present. In the UK only one production of the play in addition to the West End production can be performed annually. Also under the contract terms of the play is that no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months. As the play has never closed no one has ever been able to produce a film adaptation. In 2022 Damian Jones, a British producer came up with the idea to produce a film that is more loosely based on the play. The film See How They Run is a murder mystery that takes place at the 100th performance of The Mousetrap in the West End in 1953. The film tells a different story in which the murder victim is the director of the play itself. It was nominated for Outstanding British Film at the 76th British Academy Film Awards.
The Mousetrap is a classic ‘Whodunit’ with a twist ending, which the audience is traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre. The play centers around a group of seven strangers who find themselves snowed in at a remote countryside guesthouse. When news spreads of a murder in London and a police sergeant turns up at the door, they soon realise that the killer is in their midst! Each character reveals their sordid pasts one by one but the question is… who did it?
There are eight members of the cast, and by 2012 more than 400 actors had played the roles. Christie’s script allows for lots of flexibility in the interpretation and embodiment of each of the roles. Every new cast member is able to bring new depth to the production, and every audience brings a new energy into the theatre. Because of this, every single one of the 28,000+ performances of the show has been unique.
For over 70 years this thrilling tale of mystery and intrigue has kept millions of people on the edge of their seats. Can you solve the mystery of The Mousetrap? Find out now a book The Mousetrap tickets online via the Theatre Bookings website or visit our box office in Leicester Square. Book now to see London’s greatest ‘Whodunit’.