The Orient Express, the train described as ‘Poetry on Wheels’ is stuck in a snow drift, trapping its passengers in a cold, dark claustrophobic warren of narrow corridors and sliding doors. The conductor is trying to contact a rescue team, the train company manager is trying to keep spirits high, and a world-famous detective is trying his best to keep his head down and get to London in a hurried response to an emergency telegram. But when a passenger is found brutally murdered

Picture the scene. It’s a murder mystery play. Written by Agatha Christie. Already a recipe for success, just look at the mega power that is ‘The Mousetrap’. But wait, it’s a courtroom drama, and it’s being performed in London County Hall’s Council Chamber, giving the sense of a real court room. Ladies and gentlemen, I think that we are on to a winner here. This is ‘Witness For The Prosecution’.   Christie herself named ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ as her favourite play and

Agatha Christie. A mere mention of the name is enough to draw images of mystery, deception, distrust, and puzzles. To be able to construct a mystery in such a way as Christie is perhaps the dream of many a writer now, for not many could piece together a puzzle so intricate and clever that it keeps you guessing until the dying moments of the story itself. Her classic tale ‘The Mousetrap’ is the longest running play in West End history, but that, of course, isn’t her only hit.

Up and down the country, from the glittering West End to our much-loved regional theatres, stages are a new constant revolve. One show out, one show in, and the cycle starts again. But, nevertheless, some productions stick around a little bit longer, a year here maybe, a 3 three stint there? It’s pretty common, but what is more uncommon is that sometimes a show can run and run, the revolving door of change nowhere to be seen. The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and for

Let me take you back to a different time, long before the age of social media and iPhones, long before Covid made such a massive impact on our lives. It’s 1952, Winston Churchill is prime minister, Stalin is the head of Russia, television shuts off at 10.20pm every day and most essential food is rationed. 5 years on from premiering as a short radio play entitled ‘Three Blind Mice’, Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ opened on 25th November at London’s Ambassadors Theatre follo