Knock-knock. Another visitor has made it through the blizzard outside to arrive at the Ralston’s newly opened Monkswell Manor, about to be cut off from town by snowdrifts.
But are they a welcome guest, or a furtive killer? And why is it the guests now baulk at the simple – yet ominous – notes of a children’s nursery rhyme?
Nash Theatre’s production of the classic Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap brings all the intrigue of the longest running play in London’s West End (over 30,000 performances) to New Farm.
Sharon White returns to direct her 10th “Christie” show – her leadership made all the more impressive after a last-minute cast member replacement was found in Matthew Hobbs, performing with just five rehearsals under his belt before the show’s opening.
Incredibly, you could never have guessed, and his character Giles Ralston, a taciturn and protective husband, was played with conviction and nary a stutter.
Each of the other characters were equally enthralling; the only indication we weren’t in London, the broad tones of an Australian accent slipping through.
Each has their quirks, each their sympathetic motivations, and each some detail that makes you question their innocence – the perfect ingredients for a murder mystery that will keep you wondering to the end.
The play, on until December 6, has just a few tickets left for next weekend – get your tickets at trybooking.com/events/landing/1318898.
