Review, THE MOUSETRAP, King's Theatre, Glasgow

After nearly 30,000 performances at the St Martins Theatre, Agatha Christie's play, The Mousetrap is also playing to theatres around the UK as part of a 70th anniversary tour. This week, the classic whodunnit comes to the Glasgow King's Theatre.

Directed by Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey, the show opens with a haunting flute solo, and the curtain rises to reveal the wood-panelled lobby of Monkswell Manor, a new guesthouse venture for Mollie and Giles Ralston after inheriting the property. We meet several of their first guests interspersed by whispers of a recent murder in London on the wireless, and it comes to light that the culprit may be among them.

Joelle Dyson and Laurence Pears have sweet chemistry as Mollie and Ralston, eager to please their guests, while Joseph Reed embodies the quirks of a textbook London detective. Among those who have checked in for the night, Elliot Clay is endearingly eccentric as young Christopher Wren, opposite to Gwyneth Strong's snobbish Mrs Boyle.

Kieran Brown causes much laughter as the flamboyant and mysterious Mr Paravicini, Todd Carty is suitably "what ho" as Major Metcalfe, while Essie Barrow exudes elegance and mystique as Miss Casewell.

Some misleading lighting cues result in the audience thinking the end of the first scene is in fact the end of the first half, indicating a little too much time is spent on introducing all the characters, however the pace picks up in the latter scenes and the audience are thrilled by the secrets that come to light while everyone is under investigation.

The costumes (supervised by Rachael Piper) are rooted in the post-war era and suit each character down to a tee, be it Christopher Wren's quirky bow tie, to Mollie Ralston's elegant hostess tea dress.

Christie's script contains evergreen references to "political crises" and bureaucratic red tape for hospitality business owners, indicating little has changed in some aspects of society since the play first opened.

There are also many other timeless elements of a murder mystery. Thankfully for those of a squeamish disposition, there's nothing to worry about for this particular tale.

If you've been meaning to get round to seeing The Mousetrap, you don't really have much of an excuse at this stage but now is the perfect time to "catch" it while this production travels to regional theatres around the UK - just don't forget your notepad and sleuthing skills!

The Mousetrap is at the King's Theatre, Glasgow until 6 May

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