By Kelly Oristano
“Which of the Pickwick Triplets did it?
Who of the crew could commit this crime?
Might a little brat make a mommy go ‘splat?’
It’s a story, pretty gory for a nursery rhyme!”
— from Only Murders in the Building
The Very Little Theatre opens its 95th season and mounts its 500th stage production with a historical chestnut that would have been a bold new experiment in its 23rd season, Agatha Christie’s 1952 record-breaker, The Mousetrap. Directed by Amy Weinkauf, says the program; Amy credits her husband Jeff as co-director. Their complementary talents combine to make the play seem younger and fresher than its 70 years.
I firstly found it fascinating as a historical document. It was educational to see that the roots of the American Comedy Murder (Monk, Psych, Only Murders in the Building) and the British Cozy Murder (too many examples to cite, there are multiple streaming services full of them) go back much further than I’d thought, specifically to this 72-year-old play.
Every character in The Mousetrap has jokes about the deadly situation they find themselves in; many seem to revel in delight at their snowbound scenario. Jokes outnumber solid clues at least 2-to-1 here, and when the threads all come together it plays as the climax of a farce, or even the punch line of a joke, rather than a shocking revelation in a crime story.
Given its status as the most-seen-play in theater history, many readers won’t need a plot recap. As a putative mystery with a twist ending, it wouldn’t do to expose too much plot for readers who’ve not seen it. But that’s okay because it’s not about the mystery. You’re not going to solve this one ahead of time with clues or cunning deductions.
The Mousetrap is a genre comedy wearing the clothes of a murder mystery. It’s not particularly rewarding as a whodunit, but it’s quite fun as a character-driven comedy. It’s an ur-text for what this genre has exploded into today, and it’s neat to consider how Christie discovered or invented an enduring new form 40 years into her writing career.
Christie paints character quite broadly, and this cast have entered into that spirit of fun with their portrayals. Zayne Clayton is charming and David Landon appropriately stodgy as Mollie and Giles Ralston, new owners of the guest house where the action takes place. Leslie Murray and Steve Wehmeier hit all the right notes as the stock characters of the old matron and “The Major.” (It’s not a British boarding house unless there’s an old Major in the parlor.) Max Arnold and David Beck are both funny as outlandish outsiders, easy suspects for pent-up xenophobic Brits, but did they do it, or are they just weird? Liv Tavernier is enticing as the mysterious young woman and Mike Shaw is the complicated young cop with something to prove. Accent work was solid across the board, with Clayton and Wehmeier standing out for the naturalism of their dialects.
The production is warm, engaging, and luxurious in myriad ways. The set, designed by Abby Dunn, is a gorgeous, detailed, solid reproduction of the space required for the story. It’s a clear labor of love for the whole cast and crew, a dozen of whom are credited as “Monkswell Manor Builders.” This is community theater at its finest, and a strength of the Weinkaufs to execute an ambitious vision with community buy-in. Mollie Skye Montana’s light and Jeff Weinkauf’s sound designs bring a genuine sense of place to Monkswell Manor, The costumes by Paula Tendick go a great distance to help us understand character, and play their part in some of the jokes as well.
It’s not lost on us that down the road at Oregon Contemporary Theatre audiences can presently see The Play That Goes Wrong. The play that is eponymously going wrong at OCT is, for all intents and purposes, The Mousetrap. Do yourself a favor and see each production, so that like Psych’s Shawn Spencer you can say “I’ve heard it both ways.”
The Mousetrap at The Very Little Theatre
When: Evenings at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 20-21, 26-28; Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. on Sept. 22, and 29 (seating begins 30 minutes before showtime)
Where: The Very Little Theatre, 2350 Hilyard St., Eugene
Tickets: $26, available by telephone at 541-344-7751 or online at thevlt.com
