A houseful of travelers, all virtual strangers to each other, arrive at a newly-opened bed and breakfast on the Moors of England just as a snow storm traps them all inside. At the same time, news reports of a vicious killer on a rampage, recently seen in the area, fill them with dread. Could it be one of them? Maybe the flamboyant gay student with the suspicious name Christopher Wren, (Jeff Wittekiend, pictured center)? Or the blustery retired major (Francis Henry, left)? And what do we really know about the estate’s proprietor (Bryan Brooks, right)?
The Mousetrap is the classic whodunnit, the Agatha Christie chestnut that has been playing in London’s West End since before Queen Elizabeth’s coronation (25,000-plus performances with no end in sight). It’s not, and never had been, great dramatic literature, but it is (and continues to be) essential viewing for theater buffs, with a surprise ending (always a Christie specialty) and all the trappings of a melodramatic hoot: A creaky old house, a gruesome murder of one of the guests, a detective (Michael Speck) who solves the case by summarizing the facts.
Theatre Britain, which continues its revival of the show through this weekend, understands the traditions of the English drawing-room mystery and has assembled a cast with several standouts, especially Wittekiend as the scatter-brained, flirtatious young man, Speck as an intense and charismatic Sgt. Trotter, Henry as the epitome of stuffy retired military and Jackie L. Kemp as the puckish Italian scamp Paravicini. Director Sue Birch coordinates the entrances and exits with the precision of grand farce, although she never creates the sense of foreboding claustrophobia that makes the walls feel as if they are confining you with a maniac … at least until the lights go out, and a victim gasps for breath in the darkness. If you’ve never seen The Mousetrap during its 60-year run, you’ll wonder who’s the killer, but even if you have, it’s still tons of fun — a bit of theater history performed with relish.
At the Cox Playhouse, 1517 H Ave., Plano. Through Sunday. Theatre-Britain.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 28, 2014.