The Mousetrap
by Agatha Christie

Date:  October 22, 23, 24 and 29, 30, 2010

Need for cast:  6 m, 4 w

"...The most skillfully written murder mysteries ever produced." -- The New York Times

"A truly entertaining classic thriller." -- Sunday Times

"Deservedly a classic among murder thrillers." -- The Observer

"The cleverest murder mystery of the British theater." -- The Daily Telegraph

"Unfailingly ingenious." -- The London Times

Agatha Christie, while best-known for her mystery stories that involve her famous detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, was also a skilled playwright. She adapted some of her own novels for the stage, such as "Ten Little Indians" but also wrote original works to be performed in theatres. "The Mousetrap" is the longest running play in history, and for good reason.
At the beginning of the play we are introduced to Mollie and Giles Ralston, newlyweds of a year, who are about to open their home Monkswell Manor as a guest house. They have four guests scheduled to stay, and a blizzard that is likely to trap them in the house for days. With news on the radio that a woman has just been strangled in London, and the police on the lookout for the man who did it, the air is ripe with tension as an odd cast of characters assembles at Monkswell Manor. Indeed, when Mollie and Giles receive a phone call from the police saying that an officer is on the way out there, they have no idea what the problem might be. But when Sergeant Trotter arrives, he lets them know he believes the murderer is present at the guest house and eager to strike again.
The great tension in "The Mousetrap" exists in the fact that every character has a secret they wish to keep, and they easily begin to suspect one another when the notion is planted in their mind. Indeed as the reader learns more about the murder, (the women was found with a note that said "This is the first" with a drawing of three mice and a piece of music from "Three Blind Mice" written on it), there is more than one character who is likely to be involved with the murder. Is there perhaps a little bit of "Murder On The Orient Express" in this plot, or just mere coincidence that these 'random' guests have a shared sordid past?
Agatha Christie does a marvelous job in creating all the tension and mystery of a full-fledged novel fit the two-act play. She moves the action along and allows the fall of the curtain and atmosphere to evoke the uneasiness of the situation at hand. After reading "The Mousetrap" it is easy to see why this play has captured the imagination of actors and audiences for so long.