What does it take for a work, be it in any medium, to be considered a classic?
Does it need to acquire a built reputation that’s passed on by word of mouth from person to person down from year to year? Or is having roots in a strong pedigree enough to ensure that a work will be remembered for all of time?
Immortality, oddly enough is a side effect to the act of creation, not in the living forever fashion no, but with their works the artist can transcend their fated end point and conquer the one adversary none can face and defeat; Death.
Knowing a thing or two on the subject of death, the legendary and just as mysterious author Agatha Christie has long staked her own claim in history. What, with her numerous tales of murder and the macabre, during her eight-five years on the planet the woman all but designed the modern murder mystery.
Her domination of the written word also spreads to even the stage with her plays, the most famous of which being “The Mousetrap”. Known for its twist ending, it also holds the title of being the longest running production in the history of the West End of London… The Broadway of England if you will.
“The Mousetrap” has made armature detectives out of audiences for sixty-seven years and has shown that beyond luck, beyond word of mouth, and beyond pedigree that it is a classic, which will be staged and wow for as many year as the world will be turning.
Lucky enough to have found myself in the famed West End recently, I certainly knew that catching a play had to be a part of the agenda while drifting around that land of the Royals. Having never seen a production of “The Mousetrap” prior, my interest was very much a buzz, making the choice of which play to see a simple one. It’s un-interrupted sixty-seven year run is best review a show could possibly ask for and… (Well, excuse me that is not completely correct.)
The play originated at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1952 and ran there until the 23rd of March of 1972 when the lights finally dimmed on the production. They wouldn’t shine upon the show again until the following Monday the 25th of March 1972.
(Yeah that’s right, it took one day off in those sixty-seven and that was to move to a much larger venue, the St. Martin Theatre where it still runs to this day.)
That is a very impressive feat to say the least. Though the show does boost an incredible run, it does bring to mind the aged adage of. If one were to build a boat then over time replace every single part of it, would it be the same vessel as before?
Can a story that finds itself at the base of the murder mystery genre and that has been re-staged and re-cast over and over still hold up to a modern audience’s scrutiny?
Can it leave audiences who are raised on the art of predicting a twist ending a mile away wondering the how’s and the why’s of it all?
Can it still create a sense of suspense and dread upon a cynical generation of viewers?
Well it wouldn’t be a classic if the answers to any of those questions weren’t a hard and adamant, yes.
I was in attendance for performance 27,578. Like a well-oiled machine or as any professionally produced play should be, it was a seamless night at the theatre. Under the careful hand of director Ian Talbot, the play moves as it has for decades but with lighting in its veins. Like an aged athlete or dancer who have stayed active past their prime, the play shows its age while never acting it.
The smart plot and cracker-jack pace which the cast creates keeps the audience’s intrigue as to the identity of the killer and never allows them to feels its two and half hour runtime. Matched with top notch work from most the cast, as well as a stellar production design creating a warm and welcoming crime scene, the production perfectly continues one with its steadfast tradition of presented a well stage tale of murder most foul.
The action of the plot kicks off on a frigid morning in the great hall of the Monkswell Manor. Which the owners of Mollie and Giles Ralston (Emily Plumtree and William Findley) have recently converted into a rather nice bed and breakfast and are awaiting their first guest to arrive. While they wait, a newscast informs them and the audience of a murder that has taken place in the nearby town and that the killer (who has an affinity to the nursery rhythm Three Blind Mice) is still on the loose.
An undescriptive description is also given of the assailant, yet serves as a smart hint to some of the production’s perfect use of sight gag humor. As the deception easily fits not only the Ralstons, but also every other one of the red herring suspects the audience is introduced to over the course of the first act.
The first guest is the bundle of annoying energy Christopher Wren (Joel Macey) who is enthralled with the aged, but well-kept manor. The rest of our production’s motley crew of future possible suspects follow in shortly after Mr. Wren for a full house (and a snow storm beating down upon them.)
There is the stuffy Major Metcalf (Russell Floyd), the enigmatic Miss Casewell (Arabella Neale), the prime proper and impetuous Mrs. Boyle (Liz Elvin), and lastly the unexpected guest Mr. Paravicini (Malcolm James) and all bring a very natural personality to the mix (which perfectly rubs the others around them in a wrong manner.)
This creates a powder keg of tightly wound individuals that come to a head with the arrival of Detective-Sergeant Trotter (Mathew Foster) who informs them that the earlier mentioned murdered could have possible followed them to this location and even worse could very well be among them now!
BUM, BUM, BUM!
Emotions finally reach a fevered pitch when one of the guests is murdered under the cover of darkness. Now snowed in and trapped with a psycho among their midst, everyone becomes a suspect as the lovely B&B itself is transformed into the titled trap and all the characters become the mice trying to not have it sprung on them.
The cast is made up of seasoned professionals and each truly brings their characters off the page. They fill the stage with well-livid in and defined people, though others do present a better representation then some.
Liz Elvin’s Mrs. Boyle, while having the least amount of stage time, does a stunning job of creating the traditional air of British aristocracy when she enters a room. Almost like a relative who one is forced to see possibly once a year, her unfriendly and uncaring attitude at first appears weak, but she reveals herself to be a lioness. One must keep an eye on her, or she will take a bite of out them.
An while anchoring a play is no easy task, Emily Plumtree does it with such ease as the well balanced ensemble’s defacto lead, Mollie. She runs the gauntlet of emotion from overjoyed to achieving her dreams of opening and operating her own hotel to genuine concern not for herself, but for those who have entrusted her with their well being. She creates a fantastic final girl-esque character out of a role that could easily slip into victim.
The vigor in which she defends Christopher when the rest began to conduct their claustrophobic witch-hunt gives a wonderful example of her unwavering sense of right and wrong. Like how the rocks never crumble to the crashing waves of the ocean, she stands strong in the face of a number of unsavory characters and situation.
Also of note is Arabella Neale’s Miss Casewell. She doesn’t have a singular moment where she steals the spotlight, but the consistent mysterious nature of her character and the modern woman vibe she brings to it helps shape a compelling role to watch. And Mathew Foster presents a multifaceted take on what should be the hero of this story in his Detective Trotter.
Joel Macey’s Christopher explodes all about the stage with the fervor of a sugar fuel child. He hits a consistent mark with the work, but it usual borders on nerve grating. It’s so dramatically different from the rest of the show, that he stands out for more of the wrong reasons then the right. Malcolm James fares better, but the Italian accent he adapts for the role slips back to his natural British. A keen ear will pick it up, but it doesn’t bring down the nature of the character.
The cast has a fantastic playground to work in; the set ducks and weaves all around forming an offstage labyrinth. It truly adds great detail to the magnitude of Monkswell Manor, where characters exit from one side and return to the stage from an entirely different spot. It serves the reality of the show well, with its top-notch production value and attention to detail it is a gorgeous set. The work put in by Master Carpenter Olly Clarke and his team towards creating this set deserves a standing ovation all itself.
By the end of the show, with the final bows taken, the cast makes a request to the audiences, that’s made at the end of every production….to simply keep their mouths shut. To be blind mice themselves to the events that have transpired, and don’t let the cat out of the bag of whodunit. It seems to be a tradition that has actually held up.
I for one, nor did anyone in my party, know the identity of the killer before entering the theatre (though by the end of Act 1 there were more than one right guesses.)
I do honor that tradition here. So no spoilers, if that’s what you were here for then… sorry. It’s easy to say the show is great, as it’s record speaks for itself, but going back to the adage of the boat and its replacements.
Here, the evidence is clear that when the basic design, the core structure of a ship… or play, is strong then it can forever weather the storms of time and bring a wonderfully adventure to those lucky enough to see it.
Tickets for “The Mousetrap” can be purchased online from £26.50 – £111.50 per seat.