The Mousetrap Tickets

About The Mousetrap

The Mousetrap is Agatha Christie’s classic murder-mystery; on stage at St Martin's Theatre. The play holds the record for the longest initial run of any play in the world, with nearly 25,000 performances in its 55 year run in London’s West End. The end features a twist, which audiences are sworn to secrecy about.

Play plot

The Mousetrap revolves around young couple, Mollie and Giles Ralston, who start a hotel up in the converted Monkswell Manor. The couple, four guests and a stranded traveller are snowed into the hotel together. Detective Sergeant Trotter arrives on skis to warn the group that a murderer could be on the way to the hotel from London. When one guest, Mrs Boyle is murdered, it’s clear that the killer is already there – but who is it?

The Mousetrap background

The Mousetrap was written by Agatha Christie and started life as a radio play, broadcast in May 1947 for King George V and his wife Queen Mary. From the radio play a short story was developed, and the theatrical play was based upon this story. Christie stipulated that the story should not be published as a book while the play was still running in the West End: so 55 years later still no book!

Changing faces

The original West End cast included Sir Richard Attenborough as DS Trotter and his real life wife Sheila Sim as Mollie Ralston. It was the idea of producer Sir Peter Saunders to change the cast every year, after the death of David Raven (who made history for his 4,575 performances as Major Metcalf). There is a tradition of the incoming and outgoing leading ladies cutting the ‘mousetrap cake’ together.