Whodunnit
“The Mousetrap” is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. It opened in London’s West End in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. The longest running West End show, with its 25,000th performance taking place on November 18, 2012. The play has a twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.
The play began life as a short radio play broadcast on May 30, 1947 called “Three Blind Mice” in honour of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V, of the United Kingdom. It originated from the real-life case of Dennis O’Neill, who died after he and his brother Terence suffered extreme abuse while in the foster care of a Shropshire farmer and his wife in 1945.
When she wrote the play, Christie gave the rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard as a birthday present. In the United Kingdom, only one production of the play in addition to the West End production can be performed annually, and under the contract terms of the play, no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months.
It began its run in London on November 25 , 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre and then shifted to St. Martin’s Theatre where it has been running for the last 42 years. On November 25, 2012 “The Mousetrap” celebrated its 60th birthday. Agatha Christie’s great play has been thrilling audiences from around the world for as long as HRH Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom, has been on the throne.
During the phenomenal 67 year run there have been no fewer than 474 actors and actresses appearing in the play, 279 understudies, 142 miles of shirts have been ironed and over 500 tons of ice cream sold. Some cast members are in the Guinness Book of Records, David Raven as the ‘Most Durable Actor’ for 4575 performances as Major Metcalf, and the late Nancy Seabrooke for a record breaking 15 years as an understudy.
“The Mousetrap” first entered the record books on April 12, 1958 when it became the longest running show of any kind in the history of British Theatre.