The ‘trap is shut: Mousetrap tour ends, but more mysteries are in store

For the past eight months, Australian audiences have been scrambling to become part of a 60 year old club – the ever growing group of theatre goers that know exactly ‘whodunit’, and who share a special bond in theatrical secrecy.

Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit play The Mousetrap celebrated it’s 60th anniversary on the West End last year and 60 special productions were mounted worldwide to commemorate.

The Australasian touring production, which closed last weekend at QPAC in Brisbane, is arguably one of Australia’s most successful commercial touring plays in recent memory. Over 150,000 patrons flocked to the show across Australia in 6 cities – Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane (with a return season in Sydney due to popular demand) – and many more enjoyed the production across the ditch in Wellington.

Producer Louise Withers has praised writer Agatha Christie and her natural ability to create theatrical tension, mystery and a jolly good night at the theatre.

“On behalf of all my producing partners, we’ve been thrilled by the success of the tour, which has delighted audiences in all cities we’ve played in since opening in Sydney in June last year”, Withers said.

“Though the ‘trap has now shut, Christie’s body-of-work is such that there are many more mysteries to be solved and the success of this tour demonstrates her enduring appeal has left theatregoers with a demand for more. Like any Christie mystery, all will be revealed soon.”

Agatha Christie wrote or adapted 19 plays (and several of her own works were adapted into plays by others), all of which feature ingenious plots, twists and turns and a thrilling mystery which delights audiences the world over. This statement from Withers implies a new production of a Christie play will be on its way to our shores imminently.

So what’s next? Could we be seeing the likes of And Then There Were None or Alibi on Australian stages in the near future? Get your thinking caps on, and let’s see if we can’t solve this mystery!

Which of Agatha Christie’s plays would YOU like to see?