The Mousetrap at 70
BY SUSAN CLARK
AS Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap turns 70, we raise the curtain on famous names who have starred in the world’s longestrunning stage play.
The show premiered at The Theatre Royal in Nottingham on October 6, 1952, opening to rave reviews thanks to a big twist ending which breaks all the normal “whodunnit” rules.
It soon transferred to London’s West End and, in 1974, it took up residence at St Martin’s Theatre, where an intimate atmosphere is said to add to the claustrophobic feel of the play. All those who see it are sworn to secrecy over its surprise ending.
It was originally written as a short radio drama called Three Blind Mice, broadcast on May 30, 1947, to celebrate the 80th birthday of Queen Mary. Agatha Christie expected the renamed play to run for less than a year and the film rights were sold with a clause that no movie should be released until six months after it came off stage. But it became a huge hit and ran uninterrupted until coronavirus forced a 20-month halt in 2020.
The current cast is headed by Italia Conti-trained actor Daniel Solbe as the perplexed Detective Trotter who tells seven strangers in a spooky old manor house that one of them is a murderer.
The role was first played by Richard “Dickie” Attenborough, the late elder brother of national treasure David, with his wife Sheila Sim taking the main female role of Mollie Ralston.
The current hit comedy film See How They Run, starring Saoirse Ronan, is set around a theatre showing The Mousetrap in the 1950s, with young actors playing Attenborough and Sim.
In 2012, a 60th anniversary special was staged with stars including Patrick Stewart, Julie Walters, Miranda Hart, Hugh Bonneville and Tamsin Greig.
The familiar names featured today, however, were once part of the play’s regular cast.
Everyone who sees the play is sworn to secrecy over its final twist