Agatha Christie The Mousetrap – Everything You Need To Know – Fairly described as the genre-defining murder mystery, The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie is back for its 70th-year tour in 2022.

We’re so excited for the show to be arriving in Blackpool in June as part of this 70th year tour and are taking the chance look more closely at the story behind the stage play. We’ll also explore some lesser-known facts about the show world-renowned as the longest-running play in the world.

The Mousetrap – The Plot

The Mousetrap is renowned as the godfather of all murder mysteries for the stage. Written by one of the world’s bestselling novelists, The Mousetrap has been adapted time and again and gives audiences something unique each time.

The play is set in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, a newly opened Bed and Breakfast. Christie describes the time of the play as “the present” which places it in the 1940s-50s depending on whether you take the “present” to mean when it was written or when it was first performed in 1952.

The stately hall makes a wonderful setting for seven strangers brought together in this countryside setting just outside of London. News soon reaches the strangers of a murder in London and soon after a police sergeant turns up and, horrifyingly for audience and characters alike, confirms the murderer is in their midst. Who could it be? The characters soon begin to suspect each other and see everyone as a potential threat.

All of the guests have their own backstories, skeletons in the cupboard and all fit the description of the murderer. Each with their own secrets the fun of the show is finding out exactly who is to blame and whether your suspicions are right from the beginning. Of course, we won’t reveal the ending as it is revered as one of the best-kept secrets in Theatreland. At the end of each performance, audience members are asked to take a pledge to become a partner in crime and in doing so, they promise to keep the identity of the murderer “locked” in their hearts. We hope all our audience member take the pledge and keep their promise!

The beautiful thing about The Mousetrap is the flexibility in Christie’s script. It allows actors to take their characters and give them their own personalities and style, whilst still sticking to the plot and keeping the story alive. Every one of the thousands of performances of The Mousetrap is completely unique and gives audiences every reason to back and see it time and again.

Agatha Christie The Mousetrap – Fun Facts

The Mousetrap has an intriguing history beyond its fantastic plot. It was originally written as a twenty-minute radio play as a gift for Queen Mary. Christie wrote the play for the radio to celebrate the Queen’s 80th birthday after she’d issued a request for a new radio drama from Christie as a present. Five years later the play was rewritten for stage and premiered at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham.

Famous Faces at Monkswell Manor

The huge popularity and longevity of the play means there have been over 400 actors cast in the leading roles and many of those who’ve starred in this play have gone on to become recognised names in a range of fields. Notable names include Richard Attenborough, Sir Patrick Stewart, Miranda Hart and Hugh Bonneville.

The Mousetrap’s Record-Breaking Accolades

As well as the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap has also picked up additional records and accolades. David Raven appears in the Guinness Book of Records as the Most Durable Actor. This was due to him playing Major Metcalfe in 4,575 separate performances. Nancy Seabrooke is another Mousetrap record breaker as she spent fifteen years as an understudy on the show. As the show continues to rack up performances we can only imagine even there will be more records in the future.  

Agatha Christie The Mousetrap – A Hit on the Silver Screen

While there has been no British film adaptation of the popular play, it has been a hit on the screen in other nations. The mystery has been adapted for the screen in both Russian and Bengali. The first was released in 1990 and follows the playscript quite closely while the earlier Bengali film was a lot closer to the original radio drama script than the adapted playscript. It’s certainly a show translates well into different mediums so it would be great to see an English language film or TV version made. The stage play is also extremely popular in China, with reports suggesting Christie is “bigger than Shakespeare” to Chinese audiences.

Agatha Christie The Mousetrap – Protecting the Precious Ending

We’ve already explained just how important both casts and audiences believe it is to keep the ending of The Mousetrap a secret. Generations of audiences have kept ending to themselves. However, sometimes technology ruins a little bit of a magic. Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard has owned the performance rights of The Mousetrap since shortly after its first performance. On hearing online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, has published the ending with no disclaimer, he was said to be “dismayed”. Furthermore, he highlighted just how upset Christie herself would have been if she knew her books or plays’ endings were revealed.

In response, fans launched an ardent campaign to have the spoiler removed from Wikipedia. Unfortunately, it is still there but it is positioned under a bold header “Identity of Murderer”. This compromise allows people to keep the secret alive if they so wish, though it is understandable fans feel a little of the magic is spoiled.

The Mousetrap at Blackpool Grand

We hope you’re even more exciting to come along and see the 70th year of The Mousetrap at Blackpool Grand this June. The show is running from 19th until 24th June, and we’re excited to see how this production’s cast take the play in their own direction yet still stay true to the original. Book your tickets today and don’t miss out on your chance to work out whodunnit.