The stellar cast for the 2024 tour of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has been announced by producers John Frost for Crossroads Live and Shake & Stir Theatre Co. The acclaimed murder mystery will tour throughout New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory – kicking off at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre from 11 May 2024.
Reprising their roles from last year’s triumphant sell-out capital city tour are Helpmann Award winner Alex Rathgeber (Anything Goes, The Phantom of the Opera) as Giles Ralston, the husband of the new owner of Monkswell Manor; legendary performer Gerry Connolly (Cyrano de Bergerac, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) as Mr Paravicini, an unexpected visitor at the manor; and one of Australia’s most renowned stars of stage and screen, Geraldine Turner (Wicked, Present Laughter), as the seriously unpleasant retired magistrate Mrs Boyle.
Hannah Fredericksen (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Dream Lover) joins the cast as Mollie Ralston, the young owner of Monkswell Manor, a Victorian era estate that has recently been converted into a guest house. Chris Parker (Mamma Mia, Summer Rain) plays retired British military officer Major Metcalf.
Miranda Daughtry (The Bleeding Tree, Three Sisters) will play Miss Casewell, who remains mysteriously aloof from the other guests, while Timothy Walker (Before the Meeting, The Great) is Detective Sergeant Trotter. Final cast members will be announced shortly.
The Mousetrap is directed by Australian theatre icon and former Artistic Director of the Sydney and Queensland Theatre Companies, Robyn Nevin AO. Robyn has played leading roles at all of Australia’s major theatre companies, in London’s West End and in the US, as well as films such as The Castle, Emerald City, Careful He Might Hear You and The Matrix films. Costume design and associate set design are by Isabel Hudson and lighting design is by Trudy Dalgleish.
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.
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 over 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?
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap will play the Newcastle Civic Theatre (11 – 25 May), HOTA, Home of the Arts, Gold Coast (29 May – 2 June), Theatre Royal, Hobart (11 – 22 June), Orange Civic Theatre (27 – 30 June), Geelong Arts Centre (4 – 7 July), Darwin Entertainment Centre (11 – 13 July), Glasshouse Theatre, Port Macquarie (17 – 19 July), Empire Theatre, Toowoomba (23 – 24 July), Frankston Arts Centre (31 July – 3 August), Albury Entertainment Centre (8 – 11 August), Glen St Theatre, Frenchs Forest (15 – 25 August), Mackay Entertainment Convention Centre (29 August – 1 September) and the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, Wollongong (5 – 15 September). For more information, visit: www.themousetrap.com.au for details.
Image: Gerry Connolly and Geraldine Turner in The Mousetrap – photo by Brian Geach