(Above: The cast of The Mousetrap, at The Very Little Theatre includes, left to right, Steve Wehmeier, Liv Tavernier, Zayne Clayton, Mike Shaw, David Landon, David Beck, Max Arnold, Leslie Murray; photo by Eva James.)
By Randi Bjornstad
If you have any doubts about the appeal of The Mousetrap, the murder mystery play by famous English novelist and playwright Agatha Christie, here’s a statistic for you: The play had its debut in London’s fabled West End theater district in 1952, and it ran continuously until 2020. The only reason it closed then was because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and then it reopened in May 2021 and is still on the marquee.
The history
In fact, The Mousetrap has the distinction of being the longest-running play ever — anywhere in the world — reaching its 29,500th performance in February 2024. It was estimated in 2022 that the play already then had been seen in London alone by 10 million people.
That means that The Very Little Theatre, if it should sell out all 192 seats for all 10 of its scheduled performances of The Mousetrap — onstage from Sept. 13-29 — conceivably could add another 1,920 viewings to that amazing total.
What is so appealing about the play? Christie wrote the play in 1947, when she was 57 years old, in the form of a radio play — according to Wikipedia — as a birthday gift for England’s Queen Consort Mary, wife of King George V, grandparents to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The radio play originally was titled Three Blind Mice, and when Christie wrote it, she stipulated that the manuscript should not be published as long as it was running live in West End theaters, which means it still has not been published in the United Kingdom, although it has been in the United States as part of a larger collection of Agatha Christie stories.
The plot
A group of seven people has been stranded in a large English country house, Monkswell Manor, by a snowstorm. They hear over the radio about a murder that has been committed in London, and not long after a police sergeant from London turns up at the country house saying that a clue has turned up in the London investigation that mentions Monkswell Manor, and he needs to interview all of its current inhabitants in search of the murderer.
The plot, of course, thickens to the density of a London pea soup fog, as practically everyone has some sort of secret, ranging from false identities to sordid pasts, any of which definitely could point to possible motives for murder. Indeed, one of them quickly turns up dead, and the pressure mounts to solve that murder before another one can happen.
And it’s probably not too much to share to say that the solution to the whodunit involves quite a plot twist, so nobody should feel bad about not figuring it out.
The Mousetrap at The Very Little Theatre
When: Evenings at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13-14, 20-21, 26-28; Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. on Sept. 15, 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
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Actors and production team
The Very Little Theatre’s cast for The Mousetrap includes Max Arnold, David Beck, Zayne Clayton, David Landon, Leslie Murray, Mike Shaw, Liv Tavernier, and Steve Wehmeier.
The cast also includes several understudies: Hailey Eckhert, Adam Leonard, Thomas Weaver, Bruce Schertell, Eve James, Alexander H. Carr, and Michael Hoekstra, with voiceover actors Jennifer Sellers, Debbie Noel, Judy Sinnott, Bruce Schertell, William Furtick, and Judi Weinkauf.
The production team includes director Amy Weinkauf, assisted by Jeff Weinkauf. Melia Scanlon is stage manager, assisted by Hailey Eckhert. Design work is by Abby Dunn (set), Mollie Skye (lights), Jeff Weinkauf (sound), Paula Tendick (costume), and Cynthia Sells (properties). Set builders are David Arnold, Bruce Schertell, Rick Bronson, Alex Fox, Alex Embry, Amy Dunn, Laura Tuffli, Emily Bolivar, Ryan Rusby, Tim Tendick, Paula Tendick, and Eva Schouten Foley. The team also includes Lilith Betty (stage crew), Emily Faulconer (sound operator and publicity), Audrey Sullivan (light operator), Emma Weinkauf (dramaturge), Judi Weinkauf (show consultant), Jessica Ruth Baker (intimacy/fight director), Max Arnold (fight captain), Eve James (photography), Brandice Humphries (box office), and Adrienne West (VLT general manager).
