Nothing excites me more than a classic whodunnit and I eagerly awaited the curtain to go up in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Venue Cymru, Llandudno last night. The Mousetrap which has kept people guessing for so long, has become the longest running show of any kind in the history of Theatre. The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snowstorm discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Soon the ‘suspects’ enter the room, each with their own story and every character brings with them their own intrigue and fascination to the stage.
The set, with all its many ways of exiting and entering was just a feast for the eyes with its panelled oak walls, vintage furniture, a wonderful old-fashioned radio that gave the most rich and captivating sound when turned on, and excellent use of atmospheric lighting. There was even snowfall appearing outside the stained glass window which was a great effect! The scene was definitely set and I was drawn into the dramatic events which unfolded straight away. There are so many comedic moments in The Mousetrap and the audience lapped up the laugh-out-loud moments! The acting generally was spiffing with some excellent use of heightened RP accent work. Everyone was ‘in the moment’ and although it was a stylised acting style, almost farce at time, was used to great advantage as everything just seemed that so much more dramatic, which in turn created lots of suspense.
Nick Biadon and Harriett Hare who play the husband and wife team Giles and Mollie Ralston run Monkswell Manor, a recently converted guesthouse, and both give exemplary performances. Hare gives an enthusiastic, charming, and likeable warmth to her character (although you start to wonder if that is her characters ploy to steer you up a different path) Biadon gives a natural and effervescent performance and as the play warmed-up he showed a real depth to his character which was nice to see.
We realise soon into the play that there is a murderer on the run and the eccentric characters/murder suspects begin to enter the room. They each entertain us with their oft quirky personalities and you could definitely feel a chill in the air as they each arrived one by one. A stand-out performance for me has to be Lewis Chandler who plays the child-like and almost a bit sad Christopher Wren. Chandler was excellent, his physical theatre skills definitely came into play to give a wonderfully three dimensional character. He could have gone OTT in this role but he played it just right, I think the audience all fell in love with Christopher Wren a little bit. With an air of innocence, and extremely funny in his dealings with his fellow guests at the country house he was very watchable. Talking about English women he noted..”English Women have their feminine spirit crushed out of them by their husbands” Oh Christopher! I think Chandler should take an extra bow for treating us to a great theatrical experience.
Other cast members all gave fine performances, notably Susan Penhaligon who played Mrs Boyle..I don’t want to give too much away with this being ‘that’ play but her performance was strong, feisty and her character was certainly made of stern stuff! An excellent performance from Penhaligon which was full of spirit and substance. I also really enjoyed David Alcock’s ‘Mr Paravicini’ role. What an entertaining, eccentric and charismatic man with his musings and mutterings, he made me laugh lots and all this is reflective of Alcock's ability at character work. The rest of the cast all held their own and took us on an exciting and mysterious journey right up to when it was finally revealed who the killer was. You could hear a pin drop and the whole auditorium gasped when the truth was out!
This is good, old-fashioned, edge of your seat quality acting and keeps you invested in the action throughout. The killer after revealing themselves to the audience at the end of the show asks the audience to keep the revelation to themselves! The Mousetrap is a high-quality production of a classic Agatha Christie story. It flits between humour, (some of it quite dark), suspense, and is well worth a visit. However it must be noted, you mustn’t spoil the show by telling anyone whodunnit - that’s a secret to be locked in your heart as well as mine!
The Mousetrap is on at Venue Cymru until Saturday 17 August
Reviewer - Mary Fogg
on - 12/8/19
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