21 – 26 November

“Parlour games!” exclaims Mr Paravicini as Detective Sgt. Trotter attempts to recreate the murder scene with the guests at Monkswell Manor. He’s right. This quaint reproduction of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, now on its 70^th year tour feels every bit the murder mystery party and will appeal to those wanting genteel if somewhat fossilised entertainment.

Christie’s piece is loosely based upon the real-life Dennis O’Neill case in the 1940’s, in which a 12-year-old boy died at the hands of his foster parents. In The Mousetrap Christie develops elements of the story into one of murderous revenge by a traumatised sibling seeking retribution, adding her own trademark humorous touches along the way.

And so to Monkswell Manor in the 1950’s where coke burns in the fire and rationing is still an issue – a fusty sprawling pile in the middle of the English countryside rapidly being cut off from civilisation by a snow storm. A stern voice on the radio describes a murder in London.

Mollie and Giles Ralston (Joelle Dyson and Laurence Pears) who manage the guesthouse await the arrival of their first guests – a motley crew made up of a somewhat flighty young man going by the name of Christopher Wren (tonight played by understudy Jack Elliot), a retired army Major Metcalf (Todd Carty from Eastenders), the much-complaining Mrs Boyle (Gwyneth Strong from Grange Hill), a laddish Miss Casewell (Essie Barrow) and finally the late and unexpected addition of the flamboyant and incongruous figure of Mr Paravicini (John Altman, also from Eastenders), who announces that his car has turned over in the snow and that he is looking for shelter. That they all answer to the description of the murder suspect given out in the radio announcement is classic Christie.

On a set comprised of the comfortable reception hall of the guesthouse with multiple doors off, a sleepy first act is punctured by an alarming telephone call. Mollie warns the others that Detective Sgt. Trotter (Joseph Reed) is on his way over – surely the first and only ‘Bobby’ to arrive on skis – regarding the case.

Criss-crossing the stage like a caged cat, Trotter doesn’t have the subtlety of Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, rather he’s a young man on a short fuse, such will be the intensity of his questioning and his frustration that everyone seems to have something to hide. It is this that forms the more interesting subtext of Christie’s construction – that everyone has a public and private persona, who can say if they match up?

Directors Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey have ensured the pace never slackens with enough entrances and exits to rival the tube at Oxford Circus. Dyson and Pears as the young inexperienced guesthouse managers develop palpable distrust in each other as Trotter probes at the details of the case – Pears every bit the picture of stiff affront, Dyson full of fragility. Barrow’s Miss Casewell keeps her prim distance well before allowing cracks to appear under questioning; Carty’s Major retains his sangfroid while Elliot gives a nuanced performance as the neurotic and sensitive Wren, the antithesis of cardboard cut-out.

While this undoubtedly feels like a theatrical museum piece, if you feel in the mood to don your short-sleeved cardies and tweed jackets, open the Rich Tea biscuits and wash them down with a sherry, this nostalgic Mousetrap’s soft snap might just be for you.

★★★☆☆ Simon Bishop, 22nd November 2022

Photo credit:  Matt Crockett