Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
Cast: Louise Jameson, Anna Andresen, Nick Barclay, Tony Boncza, Lewis Collier, Gregory Cox, Amy Downham, Oliver Gully.
Arguably Agatha Christie’s name will last in the annals of English Literature history as long as William Shakespeare’s and will always be as revered to her fans as the Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is easy to see why, the cold calculating pace of her mysteries, the beloved nature of two of her famous creations so entrenched in television’s grasp that they sell world-wide with ease and the secrecy installed in a play that might never see the light of day beyond the confines of theatre; it is to that end that Agatha Christie’s name will always be celebrated and whispered, the mistress of crime and the bogeyman all in one terrific role.
The Mousetrap may be the longest running play in West End history but it never seems to travel well beyond its natural home or the period in which it is set. Whilst adored rightly as a piece of theatrical art, it can leave a taste in the mouth that seems to only want to be spat out into a bucket somewhere, rather than savoured and enjoyed. The feeling of a world lost in time, of a situation confused by standards of thought and conversation that are sullied in time and can appear murky; phrases such as “the little woman” particularly rankle the gut and whilst it is obvious that the drama is set in a period of time out of step with modern thinking it somehow feels churlish to give it room at times in the theatre.
What makes or breaks The Mousetrap is the actors within the play, without a good cast the words fall flat and become one dimensional, they have no life to them and unlike the last time the production came to Liverpool, this particular version had at least the actors to cope and overcome the outdated phrases and sometimes off the fence disregard for modern thought. In Louise Jameson the play had its rock to hang upon, as the bombastic and overbearing Mrs Boyle Ms. Jameson gave great credibility to the role and was guided magnificently by Oliver Gully’s nervous and drama filled Christopher Wren and the very believable Lewis Collier as Sgt Trotter.
If a play falls or lives by its cast then this version of The Mousetrap is one in which to at least play homage to the queen of crime, the words and thoughts might be outdated but the cast carried off the point of such refinery without letting the ordeal get to them. A production in which the cast truly carried off the day with great and deserved applause!
Ian D. Hall