The Mousetrap
The Hawth Crawley
22 – 27 April 2019
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S THE MOUSETRAP
‘Have you seen it? Do you know whodunnit?’
‘Oh yes, but I can’t say.’
In fact, none of us can say, or at least we are strongly entreated not to by the cast at the end of the show. It’s a secret I think we’re all happy to keep for the Hawth Theatre Crawley, where The Mousetrap is currently showing until Saturday 27th April. If, like me, you’ve made endless mental notes to see this play but have never managed to catch it in London, now is the perfect opportunity to get yourself to the theatre and settle in for a night of period drama and mystery.
The Mousetrap, written by notorious detective-novel writer Agatha Christie, plays out in the communal room of the Monkswood Manor Guest House, where first-time hosts Giles and Mollie Ralston (played by Nick Biadon and Harriet Hare) welcome an uncanny set of guests. Once snowed in for the night, the mystery begins, and it is up to Sgt Trotter (Geoff Arnold) to get to the bottom of it.
The highest billed cast member is, of course, Gwyneth Strong in the role of Mrs Boyle, a suitably stuffy matron whose well-timed snorts of derision allow us a good chuckle. Worth mentioning too is Saskia Vaigncourt-Strallen whose strong performance as Miss Casewell is subtly confident and never overplayed. The cast in its entirety does a fantastic job, and the staging is well handled by all. Nice work is made of the ‘suspect is wearing a dark coat and hat’ clue, as each cast member turns up in such regalia, affording us in the audience a knowing chuckle. The set is simple in structure yet intricate in its finer details, giving the perfect setting for the night’s mystery to unfold.
This show has been on my bucket list for years now and I’m glad to cross it off because it really was worth the night out – and worth finding out whodunnit!
Reviewer: Jemma Gould
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at The Hawth Theatre, Crawley. 22nd – 27th April 2019.
Directed by Gareth Armstrong
Produced by Stephen Waley-Cohen and Adam Spiegel
Lighting Design by Peter Vaughan Clarke