With perfect timing – just as summer arrives in the north-east – theatre-goers feel the chill of a mansion house cut off on a snowy night, setting the scene for one of our favourite murder mysteries.
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is celebrating its 70th year in the West End, where it has become a must-see for London tourists.
Now its national tour has arrived in Aberdeen, and is proving just as popular. The Mousetrap is playing to well-sold houses for its entire run here. Its reputation obviously goes before it.
Performed on a sumptuous wood-panelled set, complete with burning fire, mantlepiece and stair which curves upwards offstage, not much has changed about this production since it first opened in 1952.
Cast relishing being part of iconic show
As the guests arrive in a blizzard, the howling wind and snow-covered hats and coats cast a chill over the action, while a wind machine and sound effect every time the window opens seems to blow gusts into the audience – or perhaps I just imagined that.
As a familiar yet strange array of characters batten down the hatches against the weather, a policeman arrives to look into the murder of a woman in London that afternoon.
Against the eerie melody of Three Blind Mice, the drama unfolds, red herring after red herring, keeping you guessing right to the end.
Catherine Shipton, who played Duffy in Casualty, was the tough old spinster Mrs Boyle, and Shaun McCourt brought some lighter moments in the role of Christopher Wren, perfectly balanced by the strange latecomer to the party Mr Paravicini, played by Steven Elliott.
As The Mousetrap draws to its conclusion, all the threads pulled together, this first-night audience was sworn to secrecy, as have the 70 years of audiences who have gone before.
I could tell you whodunnit, but then I’d have to kill you – so you’ll just have to go and see it for yourself.
The Mousetrap runs at His Majesty’s Theatre until Saturday.
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