Following the dramatic finale of Celebrity Traitors, audiences craving more suspense are being directed towards the original murder mystery experience: Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. The world's longest-running play, now in its 73rd year in London's West End, has a new director at the helm bringing a fresh perspective to this legendary production.
A Fresh Take on a Classic Whodunnit
Ola Ince, the acclaimed director known for her innovative Shakespeare productions, has taken charge of Christie's indomitable whodunnit. Ince revealed that the drama about strangers snowed in at a remote guesthouse with a killer is far 'juicier' than she'd previously imagined.
'In life we all fancy ourselves as detectives,' Ince observed. 'She creates such nuanced and quirky characters that you want to get to know them and figure out whodunnit. It's full of intrigue and mischief, funny as well as thrilling.'
The director drew direct comparisons with contemporary hits, noting: 'Shows like The Traitors and Only Murders in the Building are really popular right now. This is the original for people who want to lock in and see the real deal.'
Rediscovering Christie's Radical Edge
Ince, aged 36, approaches this classic with the same fresh eyes she brought to Shakespeare's Globe productions of Othello, Romeo and Juliet and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. 'What I'm contending with is tradition and what you inherit from a show,' she explained. 'This feels similar – this show is older than me and audiences really feel like they know exactly what it is.'
Her work revealed Christie as a sharp commentator on postwar class structure that's often been overlooked. 'With John Osborne, everyone spoke about how radical it was having working-class people on stage doing mundane things like ironing,' Ince noted. 'But at the top of Act 1 Scene 2 she's got Mollie Ralston hoovering. That was pretty radical too!'
She discovered that Christie was commenting on hierarchical changes as the upper classes declined and society moved toward greater equity. 'The play says a lot about injustice and the change that needed to happen,' Ince emphasised.
Modernising a West End Institution
Since its 1952 premiere featuring Richard Attenborough as the detective, The Mousetrap has seen numerous directors, with Ince taking over from Philip Franks. The production has clocked up more than 30,000 performances, only interrupted by Covid-19 closures.
Ince has introduced several changes to 'heighten what already exists', including a new sound design by Max Perryment to 'enhance the psychology of the play and the thrill of it'. The production features new speakers, rearranged furniture, and Ince has returned to Christie's original manuscript and author's notes.
The director faces the challenge of balancing comic elements with serious themes. She's also working with a script that has been revised over years to remove offensive language, similar to Christie's novels which have undergone sensitivity readings.
'I've come into a version of the play that omits some of the more hostile language, some old-fashioned sexism,' Ince said. 'But at the same time I'm cautious of erasing too much because it's true of the time. I don't want to offend an audience but if you make everyone a bit squeaky clean then you're avoiding that maybe someone's an arsehole and that's interesting – or that can be a red herring.'
A new cast begins performances under Ince's direction, continuing the play's extraordinary run at St Martin's theatre since 1974, having previously been staged at the Ambassadors theatre next door.
Producer Brian Fenty expressed his enthusiasm for Ince's appointment: 'Ola is a force of nature – a director who understands what it means to be both a steward of history and a challenger of complacency. Her creative instinct is first-class, and her care and love for Agatha Christie's world is as heartening as it is inspiring.'
