![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[theatre review] The Mousetrap
Sep. 13th, 2024 10:38 amSome time ago I saw a production of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap with a friend. I'm generally the sort of person to look up spoilers beforehand so I know what to expect going in, but The Mousetrap has a long history of specifically asking the audience to come in unspoiled, even though it's from long before the current anti-spoiler culture, so I thought it might be fun to play along and go in with my expectations untainted.
And to continue that tradition I'll put the rest of my thought behind a cut!
At the intermission my friend and I had a good time talking through our thoughts on who the most likely suspect was, and there were a number of options. We agreed that Trotter couldn't be the guilty party, though, because that would not be narratively satisfying.
So I was very disappointed to discover in the end that it was in fact Trotter.
Some other aspects of the plot kind of niggled at me too. Like, why didn't the police pretending to be Metcalf do anything to stop Trotter??
Trotter suddenly being super crazy at the end, despite no previous signs, was also unsatisfying. That didn't feel integrated at all!
Plus, the anniversary gifts.... why didn't the two of them fess up earlier that that's why they were in London? When your own spouse is accusing you of murder, that's not a time to continue keeping secrets simply for the sake of romance!
I was also disappointed by the multiple points where the audience is expected to laugh at a man for acting gay, plus there's one joke that was made that expects the very idea of a person engaging in cross-dressing to be funny....and the whole audience laughed heartily at it. I hate that this happens every single time I go see theatre that has cross-dressing in it! Whether it's intentionally played for laughs or not, cross-dressing is somehow inherently hilarious to a normie audience, and it is infuriating to me.
In the end I'm glad I went to see the play for the experience, but it is not the strongest of mysteries, or even a particularly strong Agatha Christie story. But I do recommend going to see it live sometime if you ever have the chance!
And to continue that tradition I'll put the rest of my thought behind a cut!
spoilers
It was an enjoyable and well done play, overall. Good set design and staging, well acted, and a fun mystery with a collection of intriguing characters all stuck together in one place.At the intermission my friend and I had a good time talking through our thoughts on who the most likely suspect was, and there were a number of options. We agreed that Trotter couldn't be the guilty party, though, because that would not be narratively satisfying.
So I was very disappointed to discover in the end that it was in fact Trotter.
Some other aspects of the plot kind of niggled at me too. Like, why didn't the police pretending to be Metcalf do anything to stop Trotter??
Trotter suddenly being super crazy at the end, despite no previous signs, was also unsatisfying. That didn't feel integrated at all!
Plus, the anniversary gifts.... why didn't the two of them fess up earlier that that's why they were in London? When your own spouse is accusing you of murder, that's not a time to continue keeping secrets simply for the sake of romance!
I was also disappointed by the multiple points where the audience is expected to laugh at a man for acting gay, plus there's one joke that was made that expects the very idea of a person engaging in cross-dressing to be funny....and the whole audience laughed heartily at it. I hate that this happens every single time I go see theatre that has cross-dressing in it! Whether it's intentionally played for laughs or not, cross-dressing is somehow inherently hilarious to a normie audience, and it is infuriating to me.
In the end I'm glad I went to see the play for the experience, but it is not the strongest of mysteries, or even a particularly strong Agatha Christie story. But I do recommend going to see it live sometime if you ever have the chance!
