Murder in a Manor House
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The Mousetrap is a great Agatha Christie whodunit playing at the Theatre on the Bay in Camps Bay until 14 January – and 2012 will mark its glittering 60 Year Diamond Anniverary.
Be transported back to the post-war 50s to a Victorian Manor House set in the English countryside, 30 miles from London, newly opened as a guest house. Indeed, Monkswell Manor could well have been an early Portfolio Country House, and the audience may well relate to the first-time owners with their first ever guest house, whilst many guest house owners will surely identify with several of their clients!
The murder of one of the guests sets the scene for a typical Agatha Christie mystery thriller. Whilst the audience may think the initial banter harmless enough, in typical Agatha Christie fashion you need to keep those ‘little grey cells’ alert, as Inspector Poirot would say (although this is not a Poirot mystery). And of course when the murder happens, everyone in the audience is racking their brains to remember who was where when it took place.
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The Theatre on the Bay is an ideal, intimate setting to the watch the antics and behaviour (good and bad) of guests and owners alike and the authentic stage set captures the atmosphere. Alan Swerdlow’s skilled directing yields polished performances from a cast who perform their characters flawlessly.
Sergeant Trotter is powerfully portrayed by Ashley Dowds, Matthew Lotter is the flamboyant Christopher Wren, Clare Marshall is superbly cantankerous as Mrs Boyle, Bronwyn Leigh is the mysterious Miss Casewell, Robert Fridjhon plays a very military Major Metcalfe whilst Mark Rayment oils his way across the floor (thank you Prof Higgins) as the smooth Paravacini and the ‘new guest house owners’ are well played by confident Clyde Berning as Giles Ralston and Sarah Richard as the uncertain Mollie Ralston.
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Ever since I was a teenager I wanted to see Agathie Christies’s Mousetrap, which by 1972 had become the longest running West End play with its record-breaking 20 years; and now in 2012 will celebrate its Diamond Anniversary of 60 years – with more than 25 000 performances worldwide. The play is also famous for its twist in the tale, which at the end of every performance the audience is asked, by a member of the cast from the stage, not to reveal.
From Wikipedia : The suggestion to call it The Mousetrap came from Christie''s son-in-law, Anthony Hicks. In Shakespeare''s play Hamlet, "The Mousetrap" is Hamlet''s answer to Claudius''s inquiry about the name of the play whose prologue and first scene the court has just observed (III, ii). The play is actually The Murder of Gonzago, but Hamlet answers metaphorically, since "the play''s the thing" in which he intends to "catch the conscience of the king."
Need to Know
- Dates: 7 Dec 2011 - 14 Jan 2012
- Venue: Theatre on the Bay, Camps Bay
- Ticketing: R80 - R175 via Computicket BOOK HERE
- More info: Theatre on the Bay website