DramaNorth East & YorkshireReview

The Mousetrap – Grand Opera House, York

Reviewer: Ron Simpson

Writer: Agatha Christie

Directors: Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey

Incredibly this was a 70th anniversary tour – surely somebody must have let the cat out of the bag as to who the murderer is in all that time, but no – at curtain call we were all solemnly warned not to betray the secret. Well, in truth it wasn’t all that solemn!

The nicest thing aboutThe Mousetrap, though it has a genuine whodunnit puzzle, is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. At the beginning, when the radio conveniently brings the latest news of a murder in London every time it’s switched on, the description of the murderer is suitably vague: dark overcoat, light scarf, felt hat. As every member of the cast enters individually, what do you think they are wearing?

At the moment when everyone has agreed that no one could get through this snow, there is a knock at the window and there is Sergeant Trotter, wanting to know where to park his skis. The ending, after the murderer is unmasked, is a comical medley of secrets unveiled.

Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey employ a suitably light touch, with all cast members overplaying with relish. Mollie and Giles Ralston, one year married, are opening as a guest house the manor house she has been left and predictably their four guests are an oddly assorted bunch: the childishly troubled Christopher Wren, Mrs. Boyle whose every word is a complaint, the mysterious Miss Casewell and the reserved Major Metcalf. Soon they are joined by the volatile Italian Mr. Paravicini (whose car is buried in a snowdrift) and Detective Sergeant Trotter and his skis.

So there they all are in a remote manor/guest house, cut off by a violent snowstorm, with the news that the murder is London is connected with a child abuse/murder case at no distance from the manor and the victim was simply the first of Three Blind Mice. All are caught out in lies – which of them is the lethal liar?

Joelle Dyson and Laurence Pears are perfect as the charming, but rather ineffectual, hosts who could have stepped in from an Aldwych farce; as suspicion clouds their love, they bring the right touch of intensity to their exchanges. As Christopher Wren, Elliot Clay, with his habit of launching himself onto sofas and bobbing out from behind curtains at the height of a murder enquiry, has fun, as does Kieran Brown’s Mr. Paravicini, full of sardonic mockery. Gwyneth Strong attacks the sour-faced stereotype Mrs. Boyle with never a hunt of a smile, leaving the two apparently normal ones as the tensely secretive Miss Casewell and the dignified Major Metcalf, both well played by Essie Barrow and Todd Carty. As Sergeant Trotter, Joseph Reed spends much of the second act trying to marshal the others for the grand revelation, determined but increasingly frantic.

The Mousetrap is not a great play but, played as it is at a cracking pace, it’s a very jolly two hours of stage time, Agatha Christie at her most teasing.

Runs until 11th March 2023, before continuing on tour.

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The Yorkshire & North East team is under the editorship of Jacob Bush. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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