The Show: The Mousetrap
The Summary: A whodunnit, murder mystery play, based on a short story by Agatha Christie.
The Venue: St. Martin's Theatre, West St, London WC2H 9NZ
Closest Tube: Leicester Square (3 minutes walk - take station exit no.4 & turn left).
The Tickets: Vary by time and date, from £25 Upper Circle, to £120 Stalls/Dress Circle.
Website: https://uk.the-mousetrap.co.uk/
Other Ways to Watch: UK Tour (Feb '23 - Feb '24) & Broadway ('23) in celebration of the show's 70th Anniversary in 2023.
St. Martin's Theatre near Leicester Square is in the heart of London's West End.
As the sun begins to set, head to the theatre before the crowds, for one of the most insta-worthy photo opportunities in Central London.
"This thrilling West End production is THE genre-defining murder mystery from the best-selling novelist of all time… case closed! For almost 70 years, AGATHA CHRISTIE’S THE MOUSETRAP has kept millions of people from every corner of the globe on the edge of their seats. HAVE YOUDUNNIT?" Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap Official Site
A bit about the history of the play
Blue Plaque fans need just look up at the front door.
Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap is the longest running show, of any kind, in the world. It opened in 1952 at The Ambassadors Theatre in London before moving to St. Martin's Theatre in 1974 where you can still find it running today.
For over 70 years, the play has been seen by millions of people from all over the world, and to this day, it continues to be a sell-out hit of London theatre.
Show posters from years gone by fill the walls inside.
The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst. Who can it be? One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the finale, the big reveal that all have been waiting for arrives, and the identity of the murderer and motive are finally revealed.
The Mousetrap began as a radio play, titled Three Blind Mice, and was written at the request of the BBC for Queen Mary. Christie then expanded Three Blind Mice from a twenty minute radio play into a full length stage play, adding some extra characters and a fuller background and plot. The title was changed and The Mousetrap was created. agathachristie.com
As more of a musical fan myself, but wanting to try something a bit different, I thought I'd make a rare visit to a play. With the venue set a mere 60 second walk from my Covent Garden gym, a 6pm spin class afforded plenty of time for post-session shower, sandwich and the luxury of still arriving 20 minutes before curtain up.
Getting tickets
Think I'll let the professionals do the acting...
As you might just be able to make out from the sign outside the doors, in the main image at the top of this article, the show that we attended was Sold Out. However, tickets were still available 48 hours in advance, and we managed to bagsie [meaning: get hold of] the final pair of £25 tickets in the whole theatre, in the Upper Circle (the top section). Note that even the week prior to the show, there were still reasonably-priced Dress Circle (middle seating section - usually the most expensive area to sit) and Stalls (bottom seating section, in-line with or just below stage level) seats available for purchase.
The relatively cheap tickets were being sold as part of the annual London Theatre Week (which, confusingly, actually runs for a couple of weeks), whereby a number of theatre ticketing websites offer seats starting from £15 to over 70 West End and Off-West End shows. The great thing about this promotional period is that you can book tickets in the future for London Theatre Week prices also, so, even if you're unable to attend a show during the theatre week itself, it's well worth having a search to see what is available later in the year, before the prices go back up again.
You can read about London Theatre Week along with other examples of how to secure the best seats at the best prices in Theatreland by reading this article - [coming soon].
The Venue, the Seat Situation & the Comfort
Seating Plan taken from seatplan.com.
St Martin’s Theatre is over 100 years old, first opening in November, 1916. The venue has a Georgian style and - with a total capacity of 553 seats - is quite intimate compared to larger venues on the West End.
Section capacities are divided as follows - Stalls (265), Dress Circle (135) and Upper Circle (153).
As you can see from the seating plan, you will feel in close proximity to the stage with good views wherever your vantage point is in the theatre. As is pretty normal in London's theatreland, there is always the risk of a safety rail (Row A of the Dress Circle & Upper Circle) or overhang from the above section (back rows of the Stalls) impeding part of your sight to the stage.
There are websites that will provide you with a view from your seat - I use Seat Plan (see link above image to check for yourself) - so you can check in advance before you book. As a general rule, any seat with a price point much lower than those around it, is likely to have an impeded view, so do your research to save any disappointment. On the flip side, if you don't mind a slightly awkward viewing angle and want to maximise the number of shows you can get to on a tight budget, you're not going to miss a big section of the action by taking one of the cheaper, impeded views seats. Personally, I'm happy to pay under £30 for a view that is slightly restricted for most productions.
View from the corner of the Upper Circle, with seats A19 & A20 in shot.
As a result of it's early 20th Century build, you can expect to feel quite "cozy" in your seat. After sitting in the same position for a long period, you can start to feel uncomfortable. Those requiring additional legroom (or those with bathroom break anxiety...like me!) should try to get an aisle seat as getting in and out of seats in the middle of rows can be an awkward maneuver. If you need to take a bag with you, make sure it's small as you will find yourself wedged in with your belongings. On the plus side, it can get cold inside (especially during the 9 month UK winter...) so if you're wearing layers, you'll likely keep them on rather than try to find somewhere to place them around you.
We had a pair of tickets in the Upper Circle (G10 & G11 if you'd like to reference the seat plan above), which was the penultimate row from the back of the theatre. Usually, I would have visions of a vertigo-inducing view. However, as already mentioned, the theatre is small, and the incline steady, so it really didn't feel high up at all. To try to explain this in "Everest-scaling" terms, from street level, we had arrived to the foot of the Upper Circle in just 28 shallow steps, and in under 60 seconds.
Just the 28 steps from street level to the Upper Circle.
The stairway to the Upper Circle is accessed via a door to the right of the main entrance. It is tired and a bit chilly (see image) but - with the multitude of show posters lining your ascent - it just adds to the charm of the old building. Unless of course you're easily cold and prefer a more Mediterranean feel whilst enjoying the arts, in which case, definitely visit in August when you'll be treated to the feeling of sharing a sauna with another 500+ fully clothed humans... It'll be toasty in there (i.e. humid).
Once arrived at the bottom corner of the Upper Circle, we made the quick hop around the 8-rows of seating, dropped our coats where we were to be housed for the next couple of hours, and quick-footed it to the bar. The great thing about the Upper Circle at St. Martin's (especially if you have back-centre seats like we did), is that you're extremely close to the bar, which is situated at the very top of the theatre. It's small and pricey (no surprises there) but service was really quick. A bottle of Diet Coke, still water and one ginormous tub of Chardonnay vinegar and sea salt crisps later, we were ten quid lighter [translation: the total for these three items was £10], and back to our seats.
Don't be fooled by the size of the crisp tub!
My excitement at the large tub of crisps - as you can see from the image - was instantly extinguished after opening said item to find it all but half-filled with (admittedly) delicious potato-based snackage [meaning: snacks]. Fortunately this meant that 10 minutes later, when the show began, 90% of said crisps had already been consumed. Thus, it only took a further 10 minutes to extremely slowly, carefully, and self-consciously - the self-consciousness that only a guilty-for-chewing-Brit possesses - eat the remaining, offending items. Phew.
A quick note on the view from our seats which, for the price paid, was actually really good. Minimum leaning was required (especially after the - clearly cold - gentleman in front of me removed his large, Union Jack bobble hat. Is it even a holiday to London without a Union Jack bobble hat purchase...? I digress) and other than the need for a stretch after 2/3 of the first half (achieved with minimal fuss as a result of being in a seat next to the centre aisle), it was a solid 8 out of 10 line of vision to the stage. As long as those in front remained relatively still, you could get into a semi-comfortable slant, and see 90% plus of the action.
The bobble hat in question - fortunately it was removed as the show commenced (with some polite encouragement from my friend).
And so, the show commenced. Were we in for a treat or something more in the realms of disappointment? Let's find out in the next section...
The performance
The play itself was ok. The first half was quite slow as you're introduced to the characters, each with their hint of mystery and intrigue. Added to this are some average attempts at slapstick humour, which get a few giggles (myself included) but not the hearty shoulder shakes of "mega lols" as the people who think they are still cool kids but are pushing forty might say (I include myself in that demographic).
The set is basic with a sofa front and centre and an arching upwards staircase back-right. There are slim-to-no pyrotechnics (I guess, this comes more with your typical musical than a play). Alas, all of this means you give your full attention to the story, can see the action clearly and develop an interest in who might have committed the crime.
2023 cast as they appear on The Mousetrap official website (where image has been taken from).
The second half of the performance is much better (in my opinion). Although I distinctly remember remarking on exiting the theatre, "Wow, there was quite a lot of shouting wasn't there?". Now, despite being in my late thirties (I maybe mentioned that already...), I don't mind a bit of loud noise, however, it did seem that as the play slowly builds towards it's crescendo, there is an over-reliance on shouting, which detracted from any sense of suspense or intrigue (which is what I guess was trying to be portrayed).
Of course, you want to know "who dunnit?" and you find yourself urging the finale closer to find out. It's an interesting ending - not mind-bendingly so, but it was an enjoyable reveal. As the performers take to the stage for their applause, the audience are reminder to keep the culprit a secret, to ensure further longevity of the long-standing play. So, apologies all, but you'll need to get yourselves to St. Martin's if you're desperate to find out!
Hometime
The show started promptly at 7:30pm, and we were inside the theatre for a total of 2hrs20, including a 20 minute interval in the middle. Being seated toward the top and back of the theatre, adjacent to the middle aisle, meant that on the show closing, we were out of our seats and down the back stairs in a matter of seconds.
Thus, with Leicester Square only a 3 minute walk away, I was swiftly back on the tube and well ahead of the usual just-past-10pm-theatre-throw-out crowds, who always seem to swarm the Piccadilly Line station entrances when I'm in a rush (note: I'm not in a rush; I live in London though, so will dart around you like I am in a rush). And to top it off, I was comfortably back in my home neighbourhood (in West London) much in advance of 11pm, meaning ample time to pop into Sainsbo's [Sainsbury's] to take advantage of those end-of-evening yellow label deals, staring up at me from the chilled section and primed for late night eating (suffice to say, the "wine" crisps weren't sustenance enough...).
All in all, I was very happy that I decided to go on this artsy adventure - it was something different to do, it was cheap and it was better than sitting in a nearby pub (where I'd have definitely spent the same amount - and more - on 4 pints).
Time to teleport to the next show...
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