The Mousetrap
- For more meanings, see mousetrap (disambiguation).
The Mousetrap is a play by Agatha Christie that started off as a short radio play called Three Blind Mice in honour of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V.
It began a record-shattering run on the London stage on 25 November 1952 at the New Ambassadors Theatre and has clocked up over 20,000 performances. It is still running to date (2006) at St Martin's Theatre. A staging at the Toronto Truck Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, that opened on 19 August 1977 became Canada's longest running show. It finally closed on 18 January 2004 after a run of twenty-six and a half years and over 9,000 performances (though some Toronto tourist websites still list it as open).
The original West End cast included Richard Attenborough as Sergeant Trotter and his wife Sheila Sim as Mollie Ralston.
Since the death of David Raven, who made history as the most durable actor for his 4575 performances as Major Metcalfe, the cast has been changed annually. The change usually occurs around November, and was the initiative of Sir Peter Saunders, the original producer. There is a tradition of the retiring leading lady and the new leading lady cutting the "Mousetrap cake" together.
The play is based on a short story, itself based on the radio play, but Christie asked that the story not be published as long as it ran as a play in the West End of London. It has still not been published as a book within the United Kingdom, but the script is available. Under the contract terms of the play, no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months.
When she wrote the play, Christie gave the rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard as a birthday present. Prichard currently owns the rights to all of her works.
By tradition, audiences are asked not to reveal the identity of the killer to anyone outside the theatre at the end of each performance. There is some speculation to the reasoning behind this. One theory suggests that the murderer changes periodically as all of the characters have a motive. Another, and more accepted theory, is to ensure that the end of the play isn't spoiled for future generations.
In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, "The Mousetrap" is Hamlet's answer to Claudius's inquiry about the name of the play whose prologue and first scene the court has just observed (III, ii). The play is actually The Murder of Gonzago, but Hamlet answers metaphorically, since "the play's the thing..." in which he intends to "catch the conscience of the king."
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Short plot overview
The story is about a young couple, Mollie and Giles Ralston, who have started up a new hotel in the converted Monkswell Manor. They are snowed in together with four guests and an additional traveller, who ran his car into a snowdrift. Detective Sergeant Trotter arrives on skis to inform the group that he believes a murderer is on his way to the hotel, following the death of Miss Maureen Lyon in London. When one of the guests - Mrs Boyle - is killed, they realize that the murderer is already there. Although the suspicion falls first on Christopher Wren, an erratic young man who fits the description of the supposed murderer, it quickly transpires that the killer could be any one of the guests, or even the hosts themselves. In the end, Sergeant Trotter assembles everyone in the dining room with the plan to set a trap for one of the suspects.
Characters
- Maureen Lyon (unseen in the play) - the first victim. Mrs Lyon was imprisoned for abusing three siblings left in her foster care. Upon release from prison she moved to London, seeking anonymity, where she was murdered.
- Mollie Ralston - proprietor of Monkswell Manor, and wife of Giles. Although initially above suspicion, it later transpires Mollie made a secret trip to London on the same day Maureen Lyon was murdered.
- Giles Ralston - husband of Mollie. The very first suspect, as Giles enters the stage dressed in clothing similar to that worn by the killer. It transpires Giles also made a secret trip to London on the day Maureen Lyon was murdered. Even Mollie begins to suspect Giles, when she realises she has known him just a year and knows nothing of his background.
- Christopher Wren - the first guest to arrive at the hotel, Wren is a hyperactive young man, who is depicted as being gay and acts in a very peculiar manner. He admits he is running away from something, but refuses to admit what. The audience quickly leaps to the conclusion he was one of the abused children, driven schizophrenic by repeated abuse and now a murderer.
- Mrs Boyle - a critical spinster of a woman who is pleased by nothing she observes. A former magistrate, we discover she had placed the three children in Maureen Lyon's care. Shortly afterwards she is murdered and therefore the only character above suspicion.
- Major Metcalf - retired from the army, little is known about Major Metcalf. Suspcion falls upon him once it is revealed that the father of the three siblings was in the army at the time their mother died, which led to them being put into care. Perhaps he was seeking a terrible revenge?
- Miss Casewell - a strange, aloof woman who speaks offhandedly about the horrific experiences of her childhood. Refusing to give any more away, the natural conclusion is that she is one of the abused children, here to seek a terrible revenge.
- Mr Paravicini - a man of unknown provenence. He appears to be affecting a foreign accent and artificially aged with make-up. Who he is or where he comes from remains a mystery and his refusal to answer a direct question only underlines this point. The audience is encouraged to theorise he is the children's father, disguised as an elderly foreigner and returned from the army to wreak a terrible revenge.
- Sergeant Trotter - the hero of the piece, who valiantly arrives in a snow storm to protect the guests from the murderer; however, as the play progresses, we wonder what do we actually know about Sergeant Trotter?
The Solution
At the end of the show, one of the actors will traditionally ask the audience to keep the identity of the killer a secret from the outside world. We honor that request (and the author's wishes) by not here revealing the ending, knowing that merely posting the words "WARNING: SPOILERS" does not prevent the reader's eyes from glancing down and seeing "whodunit."
If you wish to know the solution, an aggressive search on the Internet (or purchasing a copy of the play or the Christie story upon which it is based, both available in paperback) will provide you with the answer. It would be unfair to ruin the ending for those of you who may see the play either during its landmark run in London or in a local theatrical production.
Categories
British plays | 1952 plays | Agatha Christie plays