Review: The Mousetrap at His Majesty’s Theatre

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at His Majesty’s Theatre 
Saturday, April 8, 2023

9/10

Agatha Christie was once quoted as saying ‘very few of us are what we seem,’ and her tumultuous tale The Mousetrap is an ode to that sentiment.

First performed in 1952 on London’s West End, the play was well-received and described as the penultimate “genre-defining” murder mystery. It seems more than 70 years later, it has held its own against time, with the 2023 Australian tour making its way to His Majesty’s Theatre in Perth.

The venue was a perfect choice, with the old-fashioned moulding, grand ceiling and dramatic red curtains acting as a nod to Ms Christie herself. It was a packed theatre of adults and children alike chattering excitedly before the show started, some making a promise to hypothesise “whodunnit” when they reached intermission.

The curtains lifted to reveal a stunning set, built to emulate a grand guest house, but it wouldn’t have been surprising to hear it was a real room that had been airlifted to the stage. Magical touches including working lamps, snowfall behind the window and a fireplace tucked away in the corner.

The story follows Mr and Mrs Ralston, who decide to open a guest house with the property inherited from a deceased relative. After opening the doors of Monkswell Manor, the Ralstons greet their first guests. Among the visitors are Christopher Wren, a peculiar young architect, Mrs Boyle, a retired woman displeased by most things, Major Metcalf, a stoic army veteran, Miss Casewell, an aloof woman donning a sharp grey suit, and Mr Paravicini, who speaks with an undetermined foreign accent and shows up unannounced after his car overturns in the snow storm. Things become substantially stranger when Detective Sergeant Trotter shows up to the house, telling the group that one of them is behind a murder inspired by the popular nursery rhyme ‘three blind mice.’

Performances from the actors were nothing short of outstanding, with each character expertly portrayed to the point it was easy to forget you weren’t just in the room watching events unfold. A standout performance came from Anna O’Byrne as Mollie Ralston, whose performance was similar to that of Audrey Hepburn in her younger years – a perfect mixture of elegance and sharp wit. Laurence Boxhall was a phenomenal Christopher Wren – flamboyant, quirky and scandalous with one-liners that had the entire audience in fits of laughter. A special mention must go out to the show’s associate director Chris Parker who went on as the larger-than-life Mr Paravicini after Gerry Connolly had to miss the show due to illness.

The Mousetrap was both thrilling and a delight, with the big reveal garnering gasps from an audience entirely captivated throughout both acts.

SAMANTHA FERGUSON