Anandi Shah
Despite its success being initially doubted by the play’s own writer and original producer, The Mousetrap is on its way to Broadway!
In Dame Agatha Christie’s autobiography, she recalls a rather significant conversation with the late Peter Saunders, the original producer of The Mousetrap. When the play premiered in London on 25th November 1952, the pair were discussing the run time of the play. Saunders said: “I give it 14 months,” to which Christie famously replied: “It won’t run that long. Eight months perhaps.”
70 years later, the play is now a staple of the West End, and on its own Platinum Jubilee, it was announced that The Mousetrap will be making its Broadway debut in 2023.
Christie’s Theatre Legacy
The world’s longest-running play, which currently plays at St Martin’s Theatre, has been watched by over 10 million theatregoers, and has never before been performed in New York. Almost 29,000 performances of The Mousetrap have taken place in London and it has now been presented in 27 languages in more than 50 countries.
After it broke the record for the longest run of a play in the West End, Christie received a jokily begrudging telegram from playwright Noël Coward: “Much as it pains me, I really must congratulate you!”
Christie’s work has been staged on Broadway numerous times. Such performances include The Fatal Alibi (1932), based on her novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as well as her courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution (1954-1956). This particular play is now staged at County Hall in London.
“Dame Agatha didn’t trust Broadway to produce her iconic murder mystery of The Mousetrap”
Bizarrely, Dame Agatha didn’t trust Broadway to produce her iconic murder mystery of The Mousetrap. It was her grandson, Mathew Prichard, who decided to go against his late grandmother’s wishes after observing how popular the show had become when it reopened last May, following a 15-month hiatus during the pandemic. Christie passed on the rights to the production to Prichard when he was only 9 years old.
The New Production
“The new production will be loaned the only surviving piece of the original set from 1952: a mantelpiece clock”
The new show will be a co-production between its UK producer Adam Spiegel and Tony-award winner Kevin McCollum (whose credits include Broadway productions of British hit shows such as The Play That Goes Wrong and Six). The new production will be loaned the only surviving piece of the original set from 1952: a mantelpiece clock.
McCollum stated that London production “is more popular than ever, and has shown a real resilience since Covid, with huge numbers of Americans coming to see it, and so it felt like it was time to be front-footed and take it to Broadway”.
The Mousetrap bares all the traits of a classic ‘whodunit.’ As news spreads of a murder in London, a group of seven strangers finds themselves snowed in at Monkswell Manor, a countryside guesthouse. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst.
Traditions and History
“Every performance of The Mousetrap sets a new world record for the number of performances”
- Every performance of The Mousetrap sets a new world record for the number of performances, and after each performance the audience is asked ‘to preserve the tradition of The Mousetrap by keeping the secret locked in their hearts.’ In other words, keep the murderer’s identity a secret.
- The late actor, Deryck Guyler, provided the pre-recorded voice of the newsreader in the first act and the same recording is still used today.
- On an occasion such as cast changes or milestone anniversary performances, a cake is ceremoniously cut with a sword. The cake is in the shape of a ticker counter that keeps track of the number of performances.
- Originally called Three Blind Mice, the tale premiered as a 30-minute radio play on the BBC in 1947. Christie drew inspiration from a real-life case involving two brothers who were abused in foster care.
- Since it opened on 25th November 1952, over 460 actors and actresses have trod the boards. Sir Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim were among the original cast.
- In 1959 the cast of The Mousetrap, armed with various props, gave a special performance at Wormwood Scrubs prison. During the performance, two prisoners escaped.
- Some cast members are in the Guinness Book of Records: David Raven as the ‘Most Durable Actor’ for 4575 performances as Major Metcalf, and the late Nancy Seabrooke for a record-breaking 15 years as an understudy.
- On November 18th 2012, for one performance only, The Mousetrap celebrated its 25,000th performance (60th anniversary) with a celebrity-filled cast including Hugh Bonneville, Nicholas Farrell, Iain Glen, Tamsin Greig, Miranda Hart, Harry Lloyd, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Dame Julie Walters. They only had 24 hours to learn all the stage cues, performing with scripts on stage. The Agatha Christie memorial statue near Covent Garden was unveiled for this occasion.
- During its long history, the show has been watched by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, and US director Quentin Tarantino.
- Despite its reputation, no film adaptation has ever been made. The contract terms of the play state that no film version can be released until the West End show has been permanently closed for at least six months, and since it is still running—no official film has been made!
Casting and dates are to be announced in due course.
Featured image courtesy of Hulki Okan Tabak via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes have been made to this image.
