THE MOUSETRAP Returns to Swindon for Final Leg of UK Tour

Agatha Christie's beloved murder mystery The Mousetrap will return to Swindon on the final leg of its record-breaking and first ever, UK tour.

The Mousetrap originally opened at Nottingham Theatre Royal in 1952 starring Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim before embarking on its current record-breaking West End run. The production has been the world's longest running stage production at its London home since breaking the record in 1958 and recently celebrated its 26,000th performance. The 60th Anniversary - and first ever - UK tour of this beloved murder mystery has now played over 1,100 performances up and down the country and been seen by over 1 million people, having broken box office records in many of its tour venues.

The scene for The Mousetrap is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be? One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment the identity and the motive are finally revealed.

In her own inimitable style, Dame Agatha Christie has created an atmosphere of shuddering suspense and a brilliantly intricate plot where murder lurks around every corner.

Agatha Christie became a Dame of the British Empire in 1971; her books have sold billions of copies around the world - many more than any other author except Shakespeare and The Bible. She died on the 12th January 1976 aged 85. At one point she had three plays running at the same time in the West End, a feat never matched by any other woman. She was as successful as a playwright as she was as a novelist. Her most famous characters are Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

The enduring popularity of Agatha Christie can be seen not only in the presence and longevity of the current tour but also in the proliferation of other Christie adaptations regularly released on film, TV, video games and radio. Most recently the hugely successful and critically praised And Then There Were None (BBC) and Partners In Crime (BBC), both 2015.

Agatha Christie gave her grandson, Mathew Prichard, the royalties from The Mousetrap for his ninth birthday. In recent years he has donated them to the benefit of charities for the arts and other causes especially in Wales. Mathew Prichard CBE is Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd.

The Mousetrap will star Anna Andresen (Mollie Ralston), Nick Barclay (Giles Ralston), Tony Boncza (Major Metcalf), Lewis Collier (Sgt Trotter), Gregory Cox (Mr Paravicini), Amy Downham (Miss Casewell) and Oliver Gully (Christopher Wren) and Sarah Whitlock (Mrs Boyle).

The Mousetrap will be at Swindon's Wyvern Theatre from Mon 19 - Sat 24 September, with tickets from £24.00.

Book your tickets now at swindontheatres.co.uk or by calling the Wyvern Ticket Office on 01793 524481

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