Theatre Matters - Win a double to see ‘The Mousetrap” in Parramatta on June 15

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Win a double pass to Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap in Parramatta!
Thursday 15th June at 7:30pm
 
To enter, simply email allison.hilbig@theatrematters.com.au with

– Your name
– Confirmation  you can attend on Thursday 15th June  in Parramatta
– Why you’d like to win this double pass

 
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is touring Australia this year to celebrate its 70th Anniversary, produced by John Frost for Crossroads Live Australia and directed by Australian theatre icon Robyn Nevin. The Australian production premiered at Theatre Royal Sydney in October 2022 then transferred to The Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane in November, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide in December, Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre in February and His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth from in April.

The sell–out production will play at Canberra Theatre Centre from 11 May, a return season in Brisbane from 25 May, and Riverside Theatres, Parramatta from 15 June.

International theatre star Anna O’Byrne (My Fair Lady, Love Never Dies) plays Mollie Ralston, the young owner of Monkswell Manor, a Victorian era estate that has recently been converted into a guest house. Helpmann Award winner Alex Rathgeber (Anything Goes, The Phantom of the Opera) plays Giles Ralston, Mollie’s husband of one year. Laurence Boxhall (As You Like It, Jumpy) is Christopher Wren, a flighty and neurotic young guest at Monkswell Manor. As the seriously unpleasant retired magistrate Mrs Boyle, Geraldine Turner (Present Laughter, Don’s Party) returns to the stage, alongside Adam Murphy (Shakespeare in Love, Aladdin) as retired British military officer Major Metcalf. Katherine Pearson (Mystery of the Hansom Cab, The Gloaming) plays the mysteriously aloof Miss Casewell. As Mr  Paravicini, an unexpected guest at Monkswell Manor, legendary Gerry Connolly (Cyrano de Bergerac, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) stars while Belvoir favourite Tom Conroy (Jasper Jones, My Brilliant Career) plays Detective Sergeant Trotter.

Jack Bannister (Romeo and Juliet, Lysa and The Freeborn Dames), Elisa Colla (My Fair Lady, Wicked) and Chris Parker (Daylight Savings, The Club) complete the cast as standbys. The Mousetrap is directed by Australian theatre icon Robyn Nevin. Costume design and associate set design is by Isabel Hudson, and lighting design by Trudy Dalgleish.

“I’m thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response to The Mousetrap around Australia, with sell out audiences and huge critical acclaim,” said John Frost. “Robyn Nevin has assembled a stellar cast for this 70th anniversary celebration of what is probably the world’s most loved murder mystery. Will you solve the mystery and pick the murderer?”

The Mousetrap had its world premiere on 6 October 1952 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. After a brief tour, it opened in London’s West End on 25 November 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre, where it ran until 23 March 1974. It immediately transferred to the larger St Martin’s Theatre next door, where it continues to this day.

The longest–running West End show, it has by far the longest run of any play anywhere in the world, with over 28,500 performances so far. The play has a twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.

Agatha Christie originally wrote the story as a short radio play entitled Three Blind Mice, which was broadcast in 1947 as a birthday present for Queen Mary. She eventually adapted the work into a short story before again rewriting it for the stage as The Mousetrap. Ironically, Christie did not expect the play to run for more than a few months and stipulated that no film of The Mousetrap be made until at least six months after the West End Production closed. 70 years on, as the show continues its historic London run, a film adaptation looks unlikely at this stage.

“A masterpiece… Of all the stage versions of Christie’s books, The Mousetrap is by far the best.” – The Chicago Tribune

“The cleverest murder mystery of the British Theatre. I think The Mousetrap could run forever” – Daily Telegraph UK

“Even more thrilling than the plot is the atmosphere of shouldering suspense. No one brews it better than Agatha Christie” – Daily Express

“It’s classic Christie, a play for the ages and a study in theatrical perfection” – Escape.com.au

“The pace is cracking, the timing excellent, the characterisations warm and full.” – The Guardian

“The Mousetrap delivers everything adored by legions of Christie fans. Mystery, gentle thrills, characteristic humour and old–world elegance.” – Suzy Goes See
 
After a local woman is murdered, the guests and staff at Monkswell Manor find themselves stranded during a snowstorm. It soon becomes clear that the killer is among them, and the seven strangers grow increasingly suspicious of one another. A police detective, arriving on skis, interrogates the suspects: the newlyweds running the house; a spinster with a curious background; an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef; a retired Army major; a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift; and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. When a second murder takes place, tensions  and fears escalate. This record–breaking murder mystery features a brilliant surprise finish from the foremost mystery writer of all time.

For 70 years, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has kept millions of people from every corner of the globe on the edge of their seats. It is the genre–defining murder mystery from the best–selling novelist of all time … case closed! Can you solve this world–famous mystery for yourself?