"The Mousetrap"

Theatre review
"The Mousetrap" at Cortland Repertory Theatre
The Ithaca Journal
July 11, 2008
535 words
"CRT's 'Mousetrap' features standout performances"

full text here

CRT's ‘Mousetrap' features standout performances

By Mark Tedeschi • Special to Cortland Ticket • July 11, 2008

Agatha Christie's “The Mousetrap,” like “Ten Little Indians” (performed last summer by Cortland Repertory Theatre) boasts an intriguing history.
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In 1947, a BBC station broadcasted a half-hour radio play by Christie called “Three Blind Mice,” a story that borrowed some plot elements from a real-life crime story a few years prior. The play was successful, and Christie wrote it as a short story the following year. In 1952, she wrote a full-length theatre play version called “The Mousetrap,” taking the title from a line in “Hamlet.”

The play began production in London's West End; 23,000 performances later (it is, after all, the longest-running play of all time), Christie's wishes for the short story to remain out of publication in the UK as long as the play continues its run are still in effect.

Productions of “The Mousetrap” elsewhere, though, are permitted — so thankfully, we have Cortland Rep's version to enjoy this summer.

The story is as Christie-an as “Ten Little Indians”: a group of unfamiliar, eclectic (“either unpleasant or odd,” one character comments) folks get stuck in a confined space together, and when they start to get picked off, they guess with about as much certainty as the audience, “whodunit?”

The confined space is the Monkswell Manor hotel in the winter of 1952. We have Mollie and Giles Ralston (Sonya Cooke and Leigh Wakeford), enterprising newcomers to the homey-hotel business; Christopher Wren (Joshua Forcum), a messy-haired young exercise in flamboyance; Mrs. Boyle (Robbeye Lewis), a spoiled-rotten defeatist; Major Metcalf (Gerard Pauwels), a polite army vet; Miss Casewell (Katherine Proctor), a dark-haired standoffish type; Mr. Paravicini (Michael Kreutz), a mustachioed Italian goofball; and Detective Sergeant Trotter (Dustin Charles), a just policeman who tries to parse the affairs himself.

The cast, each at the manor under separate circumstances, learn that peculiar murders have been committed at a nearby residence. The killer is described as sporting a dark overcoat, light scarf, and soft felt hat — an outfit that most of them arrive wearing (thus giving costume designer Jennifer Parr a chance to personify each character into that ensemble). A storm blocks the roads around the hotel, and with cut-off communication to boot, they must fend for themselves once one of them is anonymously killed.

Standout acting performances come from Forcum with his demanding, Tom-Hulce-as-Amadeus-esque glee and giggles and Charles, with his speedy, professional explications of the goings-on.

In the first portion, the slow pace gives the audience a chance to inspect Carl Tallent's attractive set: hardwood floors, oak walls, bookcases with silver tea trays. He leaves plenty of places to block everyone in the Great Hall, either strolling around or sitting on the couches and armchairs.

As lighting designer, Todd Proffitt makes a few interesting choices, including showing a few scenes in complete darkness, relying on Andrew Modansky's well-mixed sound design to relate the events.

Another pice of “The Mousetrap” history involves a ritual of asking the audience not to share the surprise ending. I won't, obviously, but there are several twists, not just one — and it's hard to say that they're unexpected, since the story is designed to have the audience suspecting everyone. But 23,000, remember? Maybe my mom was right: asking nicely really does work

“The Mousetrap” runs at CRT through Saturday, July 19. Visit www.cortlandrep.org for more information.