Agatha Christie's 'Mousetrap' still snares audiences, 70 years later

Lyric Arts Company of Anoka will perform the Agatha Christie whodunit "The Mousetrap" 15 times, beginning Friday. That seems like quite a few until you consider the original London production, which opened in 1952 and — other than a COVID pause — never closed. It has played an astonishing 28,000 performances.

In 1958, "The Mousetrap" became Britain's longest-running play and it continues to rack up records as it approaches its 70th anniversary, including a listing in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest-running show. It's also one of the most-produced, with Lyric Arts' version the latest of thousands, in at least 27 languages. Most of them end with an actor asking audiences not to reveal the solution, a plea that originated in the original London production.

Even after seven decades, there are still plenty of surprises in "The Mousetrap," which takes place at a snowbound-house whose residents and visitors include a murderer. Here are just a few:

A killer job

Just as it's estimated that one of eight Americans has worked at McDonald's, a decent percentage of British actors have done time in Christie's murder mansion. Richard Attenborough — who would go on to win an Oscar for directing "Gandhi" (which he helped finance by selling his share of the "Mousetrap" profits) — was in the original cast. About 500 actors have appeared as suspects, victims and killers, including David Raven, who did the show 4,575 times. Incredibly, one original cast member remains (along with an original prop, a clock). A radio broadcast still heard at every performance in London was recorded by actor Deryck Guyler, who has been dead for 23 years.

To solve or not to solve

Christie borrowed titles for several mystery novels and stories from William Shakespeare, including "By the Pricking of My Thumbs," which is part of a line from "Macbeth." "The Mousetrap" is the title character's nickname for the play-within-a-play in "Hamlet," which he stages in order to publicly accuse his mother and uncle of murder. Christie originally called the radio drama and a short story she based on it "Three Blind Mice" but learned a play with that title already existed so she changed it for her whodunit.

Sincerest form of flattery

Because of its popularity and recognizable formula (there's a murder at a remote manor, where suspects gather at the end so the detective can reveal all), "The Mousetrap" has inspired a number of parodies, including a couple on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed "Knives Out," said it was partly inspired by Christie. And while he was shooting "The Last Jedi" near London, he took a bunch of colleagues to see "The Mousetrap." Tom Stoppard's "The Real Inspector Hound," performed at the Guthrie Theater in 2016, uses the musings of two critics reviewing a "Mousetrap"-like mystery to parody its setting, characters and plot devices.

A pair of queens

The version of "The Mousetrap" now performed around the world is adapted from a radio play Christie wrote as a gift for a fan, Queen Mary. Loosely inspired by an actual crime, the play is also associated with Mary's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, who somehow remained the only person in England not to have seen it until she attended the mystery's 50th anniversary in 2002, about a year before her own semicentennial as queen.

Not coming soon to a theater near you

Dozens of movies have been adapted from Christie books, including the current "Death on the Nile," but "The Mousetrap" never has been. How come? Film rights were sold almost immediately but with a proviso: The movie could not be made until the London production had been closed for at least six months. It never closed, so there's no movie, other than an unofficial, Bengali adaptation, "Chupi Chupi Aashey." Christie also asked that the short story from which she adapted the play not be published in the United Kingdom.

The Mousegift

Christie gave the play's rights to grandson Matthew Prichard on his ninth birthday. At the time, she said he was disappointed he didn't get a bicycle but Prichard, now 78, presumably has come around.

Velvet Rope

Christie, who died in 1976, once had trouble getting into her own production. According to Christie's "An Autobiography," there was a swank London party in 1962 for the 10th anniversary of the mystery and, although she was invited, the doorman gave the heave-ho to the writer. Eventually, she made it in to gave a speech and cut the cake.

'The Mousetrap'

Who: By Agatha Christie. Directed by Craig R. Johnson.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends March 20.

Where: Lyric Arts, 420 E. Main St., Anoka.

Protocol: Masks and proof of vaccination or negative COVID test within 72 hours required.

Tickets: $29-$37, 763-422-1838 or lyricarts.org.