Oliver Gully as Christopher Wren is one of the stars of the show.
As soon as I saw The Mousetrap was coming to Theatre Severn I knew I had to see it.
Famous around the world for being the longest running show of any kind in the history of British theatre – clocking up nearly 25,000 performances – and it was heading to my home town!
The Mousetrap is doing its first ever UK tour to mark its 60 years on stage and the ‘whodunnit’, a new play unveiled by Agatha Christie in 1952, is still going down an absolute storm.
At Theatre Severn last night the first thing to be impressed by was the scenery. It is easy to become immersed in the story as you feel as if you are inside the country house the play is set in – big wooden doors are slammed and nothing moves, an open fire, a window out to a snowy and cold courtyard, all adding to the wonderful experience.
The scene of The Mousetrap is set when a group of people gather in the house after being cut off by snow and discover that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be? One by one the characters reveal their secrets and their sordid pasts until the identity of the murderer and their motive is revealed.
So did the world-famous Mousetrap win me over? Yes. Without a doubt. I found it brilliant, because of the storyline but also because of the actors on the stage.
Every character is completely brought to life and you find yourself loving, hating and becoming suspicious of each one of them, exactly as Agatha Christie wanted you to.
It was great to see Louise Jameson, of Eastenders fame, take on the formidable Mrs Boyle character and special mention must go to Oliver Gully who completely blew me away as Christopher Wren and had me laughing out loud within minutes – something that is rare for me in theatre.
The whole cast really made it a very special night for me and did this superb play justice on the Theatre Severn stage.
Agatha Christie was once asked why she felt the Mousetrap had such enduring appeal. She replied that ‘It is the sort of play you can take anyone to, it’s not really frightening, it’s not really horrible, it’s not really a farce but it has a little bit of all these things and perhaps that satisfies a lot of different people.’
I completely agree, I am generally more of an opera or musical person but I was truly won over last night.
My advice… go and see The Mousetrap, no matter what your usual viewing. You won’t be disappointed.
The Mousetrap is at Theatre Severn until Saturday (May 14th). Tickets are still available for showings this week – although Saturday night is quite heavily booked. The Box Office can be contacted on (01743) 281281.
