Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap - Princess Theatre Torquay - Review

Agatha Christie, the queen of crime as she is known and loved, called the seaside town of Torquay her home and as the area celebrates its annual Agatha Christie festival, it seems most apt that perhaps her most famous whodunnit 'The Mousetrap' was calling the beach side Princess Theatre its home for the week. In the second stop of its 75th anniversary tour, The Mousetrap continues to prove that no one could construct a murder mystery like Christie, and perhaps even now that no one can write like she could.

Newlyweds inherit a country manor, deciding to turn it into a guest house and upon their opening day they welcome a collection of differing and at times eccentric characters into their home. But as Giles (Jack Hardwick) and Mollie (Emily Laing) are doing their best to keep their guests happy as the rapidly falling snow keeps them trapped indoors, a police sergeant arrives with news that the guesthouse name was found in a notebook at a murder scene not far away in London and that the residents are somehow connected. In a classic locked door drama, in pure Christie style, the sergeant has to find out whether the owners and guests of Monkswell Manor are suspects or potential victims.

For a show that is 75 years old, one of its greatest successes lies in the fact that the secret remains wrapped tightly in the folds of theatre history. Therefore, there is only so much I can say about the story itself as the cast send you away at the end of the performance with the promise to keep the secret. Nevertheless, we can talk about the performances.

Emily Laing's young hostess Mollie is charming and welcoming, with Laing able to impressively convey the spiralling emotions that come from fear of the murder and the idea that people may not be what they seem. Her portrayal of Mollie is powerfully emotional, almost as if you could see every thought turning over in her mind. Her relationship with Jack Hardwick's Giles is believable and heart warming, with Hardwick's Giles being the man of the house, a strong voice of reason trying to hold things together. Having spent a year in a very different kind of whodunnit as Chris Bean in Mischief's 'The Play That Goes Wrong', Hardwick takes to this much more serious mystery like a duck to water. I have to also praise Alfie Richards as Detective Sergeant Trotter and Thomas Barrett as Christopher Wren, who both suit the roles perfectly with Richards bringing an air of authority and Barrett's Wren fizzing with a strange energy that unnerves his fellow Monkswell Manor guests.

What Christie is able to do so well with her writing is create a mystery that twists and turns, a story that has the audience on the edge of their seats and has people guessing throughout, all whilst cleverly injecting the drama and tension with comedy. Be it Giles' with his sarcastic and at times sassy comments, Christopher's fascination with nursery rhymes or Mrs Boyle's (Susan Penhaligon) old fashioned ways, the characters have their comical quirks that makes them all the more believable and relatable.

It may have been around for 75 years, more than earning the right to be seen as one of the most famous theatre productions in the world, but somehow 'The Mousetrap' still feels fresh. Having seen it at its London home the St Martins Theatre a few times, I was able to notice a few little new things that have been added for this anniversary touring production, boosting the freshness further.

Overall, 'The Mousetrap' proves to be timeless, aging like fine wine, with the story still delighting the audience and keeping them guessing until the final moments. For a play that Christie thought would run for 8 months, maximum, its still going strong after 75 years, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes it to 100.