The Mousetrap

The Mousetrap
St Martin's Theatre, London in March 2010
Written by	Agatha Christie
Characters	Mollie Ralston Giles Ralston Christopher Wren Mrs Boyle Major Metcalf Miss Casewell Mr Paravicini Detective Sergeant Trotter
Date premiered	6 October 1952
Place premiered	Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Original language	English
Genre	Crime fiction
Setting	A guest house, Monkswell Manor, wintertime "in the present day"
Official site

The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The play opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on 17 May 2021. The longest-running West End show, it also has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place as of February 2024.^[1] Attendees at St Martin's Theatre often get their photo taken beside the wooden counter (showing a count of the number of performances) in the theatre foyer.^[2] As of 2022 the play has been seen by 10 million people in London.^[3]

A whodunit, the play has a twist ending which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre. There are eight members of the cast, and by 2012 more than 400 actors had played the roles.^[2] Richard Attenborough was the original Detective Sergeant Trotter, and his wife, Sheila Sim, the first Mollie Ralston – owner of Monkswell Manor guesthouse. However, since then few of the cast have been headliners, with Stephen Moss in The Guardian writing that "the play and its author are the stars".^[2]