August 2014, St Martin's Theatre, we had no understudies for the performance.
I had seen The Mousetrap before when the tour came to my local theatre and I really enjoyed it. I have always enjoyed murder mysteries but The Mousetrap was one that I somehow had missed out ever seeing or reading. When it was coming to our local theatre I was so excited and couldn't wait to see it. I really enjoyed it so didn't mind seeing it again, especially in the westend as it is the longest running show in London and as a big theatre fan I almost felt obliged to see it! My Mum was the one that wanted to go in London, as she was meant to go with me the first time but was ill so I took my Dad. Even though he had seen it, he had managed to forget who had done it somehow, so it was a surprise to him again! We didn't tell my Mum or sister who had done it after we had seen it (see below to learn why!) so it was a completely new experience and surprise for them, which was a good thing.
For the purpose of this review, I'll stick to the London one, unless I specify otherwise.
The play has a simple plot line, basically, reports of a murder are heard on the radio inside a hotel during a storm that sort of cuts them off from others and the owners and guests at the hotel end up being questioned about it. Things happen such as the phone line is cut off and the guests all have gaps in their stories or are a bit odd and the audience has to try and work out what is going on, alongside the policeman who is questioning them all. The characters are all very different and have very unique personalities, which is what makes this play, especially if you have the right actresses and actors in the roles! (Think Cluedo style characters!)
I really liked the westend cast as each of them matched the personalities of their characters perfectly. My favourite is probably Mr Paravinci as he is your classic mysterious character who all the way through you are never sure what to make of him. The actor was brilliant and played on the creepy side of the character really well and was very funny at points. The other stand out performance was by the young man playing Christopher Wren as his naivety came across a lot, and he acted out the comic moments really well. To be honest, I was not disappointed by any of the casts performances. The only one from the regional performance that I preferred was Giles, who was played by Bruno Langley (Todd in Coronation Street) as he had a slightly stronger stage presence, but overall, the cast did a really good job in London.
The set is very basic (especially compared to the huge sets in Hamlet for example!), but is very effective, you feel as though you are part of the action and it makes you feel very comfortable, I suppose this goes to show that sometimes these big flashy, expensive sets really aren't needed! The theatre really helps to set the mood as well. Most of it is wooden and fits the period and mood of the play perfectly. I think this is a bit of a coincidence and accident, but is a really useful and good one. I think it is one of my favourite theatres in London that I have ever visited.
Whilst on the subject of theatres I'll tell you my favourites and least favourites I have been to in London so far. I do like the Palladium as I was quite excited to be going there due to how famous it is and the Prince Edward Theatre was done up really nice, the Barbican was nice as well once you get inside (the outside is basically grey concrete like its surrounding area!) and the seats are huge! I think me and my little sister could have fitted onto one seat really. I was also pleasantly surprised by Trafalgar studios as it was quite small compared to some but really well looked after and comfortable seats. My least favourite theatre is probably the Adelphi, it is Art Deco style inside which I did find a bit ugly, I think it reminded me of the style of some of my old school buildings which put me off a bit! The Dominion was in a bit of state when I visited, I'm not sure if it has been done up since, but the seats were in a right mess, which is a same when people are paying such a lot of money to see the shows.
Anyway, the staging of Mousetrap was all spot on, the lighting, effects and sound were perfect for setting the mood. You can tell that it is an old play that hasn't changed much over the years, which is really nice to see for once. I am used to seeing ones that have been updated e.g. put in a different era, have added lots of effects or fancy sets, or new plays, so this was a nice change. When things needed to be a bit scary, all of the effects used were spot on such as the doors banging and surprising people. The sound effects were probably the best, my favourite is the use of the three blind mice song, which progressively gets more creepy throughout the play as the tension begins to build, especially with the reveal at the end! Again, I think the acoustics of the theatre helped a lot with this. It is quite an eerie looking theatre as well, which adds to the tension and unease of the situation that the characters are facing when the lights are dimmed down. I liked the use of the candle light as it makes you feel as you are inside the hotel with the characters and makes you quite nervous about what will happen next.
I can't tell you who did it, nor would I want to! You are sworn to secrecy at the end of the play, which I think is a brilliant tradition to keep going, it really adds to the play and your experience. My sister really loved it and felt as though she was now walking around with this special secret to keep! All I can say is it is a brilliant twist and please don't ruin it for yourselves by googling it or reading the play before hand, please wait until after so you get the full experience. I do think the identity of the murderer should be taken off Wikipedia as it is ruining it for people and ruining the tradition of the play which is a real shame. It is quite fun to start a pool or have bets on who you think did it, if you just google all of the characters beforehand, or do it in the interval as I saw people doing! I'd never seen my sister so engrossed in something on the stage before and you could see in her facial expressions how much she was concentrating and trying to work out who did it! I've only ever seen her do that once since, whilst watching Hamlet, and I think that was because it was Benedict Cumberbatch's brilliant acting making her laugh and then upset rather than her interest in the situation!
Overall, it really is a classic and a must see for any theatre fans. I don't know why it took us so long to decide to go, we were still pretty new to play I guess before that year, but I am so glad we decided to go. I think it got a bit overshadowed in my mind because I saw Richard III with Martin Freeman in the night after, which is the one I had been waiting for as he is my favourite actor, but looking back I did really enjoy it. I probably would visit again, just see that so that I could experience fully again and not just be waiting for the next night. I would like to take some of my friends that aren't really into the theatre or plays and don't know the story to see their reactions. Even though I already knew who had done it, I still loved listening to the character's stories and how the plot developed, I can see why it has remained so popular.
If you have time, give it a go and remember to keep the secret afterwards!
Here is my little sister showing the performance number that we saw:
Ticket link: https://www.the-mousetrap.co.uk/Online/
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