Review: Strollers' MOUSETRAP Gets the Cheese

Agatha Christie's Mousetrap has been running non-stop since it opened in 1952 on the West End. The film can't be made until the show runs its course, mystery lovers continue to see it long after the criminal has been found out, and those who have seen it already are sworn to absolute secrecy.

Whodunit? You'll find out at the end of the show.

How has the show been staged constantly for 63 years? No one is entirely sure.

Perhaps it's the familiarity of being a long-standing favorite production. Though, more than likely, it's the fondness for the rag tag bunch of murder suspects that make up the cast.

Enter young couple Mollie and Giles Ralston (the charismatic duo of Alicia McCanna and Britton Rea respectively) who own a newly established guesthouse. The two greet several guests who arrive for their stays at the beautifully adorned Monkswell Manor (a nod to set designer Landon Peterson) in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. Five boarders and the Ralstons are soon met by a police officer by the name of Sgt. Trotter who informs them that they may be in grave danger.

A murderer is on the loose and the policeman suspects that he or she is hiding out in the estate.

Although the show sounds a bit dark - it's more than a bit hilarious.

Mousetrap features a collection of stock characters that beguile audiences about as much as the search for the murderer. From the eccentric Christopher Wren (a messy haired and resoundingly silly Sean Langenecker), to the guarded Miss Casewell (a shifty eyed, but fascinating Cindy Klawitter), or the overly curious Major Metcalf (a snarky Coleman with a resplendent mustache), this show is light of heart and heavy in archetypes.

With tidbits of personal tragedies mixed into the realm of the play, the characters are far from two-dimensional. Director Jan Levine Thal's keen eye has seen to it that not a single one can be viewed as such. Goofy mannerisms take a backseat every once in a while to give audiences a glimpse of each individual's darkest indiscretions even though some are never revealed in their entirety.

There aren't any real stakes, but that's okay because it's what Christie intended. Even when deaths occur, audiences aren't really shaken because the characters are so exaggerated. The fun is in finding the hidden gems of dialogue that eventually lead to the discovery of the killer. Full disclosure, I've read this play before and there were still pieces of conversation I had missed previously. Even for longtime mystery lovers, there is a lot one can miss upon a first viewing of a play such as Mousetrap.

It's only fitting for Strollers Theatre to perform this show during the Halloween season although I would never refer to it as frightening by any means. The scariest part of the show is the eerie piano playing the tune of "Three Blind Mice". That, in itself, is pure nightmare fuel.

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