Penned by the legendary author and playwright, Agatha Christie, The Mousetrap is currently the longest-running play in the world. Jam-packed with thrill and suspense, this classic whodunit has managed to keep its audience on its toes since 1952. Produced for the West End, this two-act theater piece was first presented at The Ambassadors Theatre in London. Having not realized the potential of her creation, Christie expected the play to run for no more than eight months. How little did she know.
The story is set in a guest house owned and managed by a young, married couple. The guest house receives a mixed bag of peculiar guests on its first day of business. There is the seemingly disturbed young man, the tough Major, the uptight magistrate, the not-so-ladylike young lady and a last-minute foreign guest. A murder was committed the previous day and the establishment gets entwined with the case. With each person knowing very little about the other, there is a whole lot of suspicion and confusion involved. Displaying features like an innocent beginning, an unrelated murder, multiple suspects, hidden identities and a surprising turn of events, the plotline has Agatha Christie written all over it.
The initial run of this dramatic piece wasn’t quite the event that the play has evolved into. It received both good and bad reviews. While one publication called it out for the overuse of clichés, another praised it for the diverseness of its characters. The Manchester Guardian and The Daily Express delivered a neutral criticism whereas The Times spoke in favor of the play. The original cast included the talented British actors, Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim. The original voice recording of the radio announcement was contributed by actor Deryck Guyler and is still in use.
A permanent fixture at West End’s St. Martin’s Theater, the Mousetrap has broken multiple records over its long run. Actor David Raven who portrayed the character of the tough Major made it to The Guinness Book of World Records for portraying the same role 4,575 times on stage. The play delivered its 25,000th performance on 18th November, 2012, and was a star-studded event. The West End production has toured worldwide whilst simultaneously playing in its usual theater in London. Having played across major theaters in cities like Singapore, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bangkok and Bengaluru, this play has grabbed the attention of theater aficionados from around the globe.
Along with the West End cast’s performances, the world has also seen multiple adaptations and productions of this drama. The Mousetrap has been written and produced for various European and Asian countries in their local languages. Multiple Indian production houses have delivered multiple Hindi adaptations of this theater jewel. Named Die Mausefalle, the play is quite popular among German theater audiences. Owing to its engaging plotline, this work of art is not limited to being a theater play. It has twice been adapted for the large screen in two different languages. A 1990 release, the Russian film adaptation is called Myshelovka. The Bengali adaptation hit the silver screen in 1960 as Chupi Chupi Aashey.
Having successfully played at renowned theaters across major cities of the world, The Mousetrap completed 67 years on 25th November, 2019.
Know more information about events. Visit our official website: http://www.eventseeker.com
