The Mousetrap At Milton Keynes Theatre Review

Reviewed by Hilz

What a pleasure to be asked to review ‘The Mousetrap’ on its 70th anniversary UK tour.
Despite the play having been running longer than my lifespan.  Surprisingly I had never seen it and amazingly did not know “whodunnit”!
So I was in for a treat.

The play opens with the wireless playing a news update and a reporter telling of the mysterious murder of a woman in London.
The scene is set..

The characters are introduced one by one, first the husband and wife who have just begun to run the Manor as a guest house, and then each guest as they arrive.
Each character’s story comes out gradually throughout the play and each one is unique and each has something they are hiding.
Any one of them could be the murderer.

The murderer’s attire described on the news report is quite specific. And it was funny to see that almost all the guests fitted the description of the murderer immediately.

The country Manor is remote and a fierce winter storm is blowing. The snow is coming down thick and fast, and each character arrives with yet more snow on their clothing.
It becomes obvious very quickly that they’re all going to be snowed in for the foreseeable days ahead.
A police sergeant arrives and lets them know that everybody is under suspicion of murder.
So we have seven complete strangers who are holed up, snowed in, at the country Manor House with no chance of leaving/
One of them is a murderer – and further murders may still be on their mind…

The historical setting and style and costumes and props were well done.
We very much liked the set – even though it was the same set for the whole play and did not change. We thought it reflected the period of the play very well and also gave a sense of the aura of a country house, one that you would like to stay in.
Apart from the difficulty heating such a place!
Of course, in mid winter it was very cold being a large old building. One of the older characters in particular – Mrs Boyle – felt the cold keenly and always seemed to be going round closing windows or hogging the fire.

We did initially wonder whether the play might have been more interesting had there been scenes in different rooms of the Manor or even outside – but then we remembered that this is a play which was first performed 70 years ago, and that the potential for scene changes then would’ve been very different.

We felt that all the actors did a brilliant job. The characters were portrayed with insight and humour and each accent was spot on.

It was an impressive cast including two well-known TV stars. We have to say that we were amazed by their complete transformation into the Mousetrap characters that they played – professionally excellent indeed.

And of course the complex plot culminates in a very satisfying twist – wonderful!!!
Understandably the longest running play in the world.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

‘The Mousetrap’ is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Monday, the 22nd of May to Saturday 27th of May 2023.

500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ

Tickets prices start at £13 with a transaction fee of £3.65 and can be purchased here:
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-mousetrap/milton-keynes-theatre/calendar/2023-05-23