Review of The Mousetrap at Court Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called The Mousetrap. It was by Agatha Christie and it was directed by Sean Graney. It was about a group of people who all come to stay at a bed and breakfast in an old manor run by Mollie (Kate Fry) and her husband Giles (Allen Gilmore). Things turn for the worse when a murder investigation begins and the murderer is understood to be in the house. The only thing is, no one knows who it is...except for the murderer. It is about mistrust, fear, and social expectations. I think that this is an amazingly done, farcical mystery. It is very well performed and is absolutely hilarious, but it also has its moments of dread and heart.

I really loved the feeling of this show. Usually I like shows that feel natural and true to life, but I feel like this production had a compelling mix of a heightened situation with grounded relationships and emotion. This balance made me love the characters, but at the same time let the show be funny and over-the-top. I loved how all of the characters were so confrontational and big; everyone was trying to be the center of attention all the time. This also shows the high stakes for the characters: everyone wants something and they will do just about anything to get what they want. There was a guest named Christopher Wren (Alex Goodrich) who had grown to be one of Mollie's favorites because they share an interest in analyzing people. He has an immediate dislike for Mrs. Boyle (Carolyn Ann Hoerdemann) and every time he walks into the room, he has some comment for her. She is another exaggerated character; she is very judgmental about the amenities of the manor and continuously is talking about how much better other hotels are. Mollie and Christopher seem to have a real relationship where they care about each other, despite the fact that he is such an over-the-top person. They bond over their mutual dislike for Mrs. Boyle, and actually grow to have a friendship that feels real and grounded. In a show that is farcical like this one, especially when there are life-or-death situations, I feel it is important to have characters that have relationships that the audience cares about.

Most characters in this play could be considered "odd" in the 1950s. It is as if, following the war, everyone is becoming less filtered. Mrs. Boyle is very headstrong and opinionated and does not submit to authority cheerfully. Mr. Paravicini (David Cerda) is very extravagant and exuberantly bares his knees to the cold and the world. Miss Casewell (Tina Muñoz Pandya) is very comfortable in her surroundings, not trying to be prim or proper. She wears traditionally masculine clothes and is confident in her opinions. Christopher Wren is flirtatious and unabashedly himself, not worried about seeming masculine. There is also a group of characters who seem to be more "normal" than everyone else. Major Metcalf (Lyonel Reneau) is a remnant of the war and still carries himself as he did in the military and is purposeful in everything he does. Giles and Mollie seem to be a lovely, traditional married couple. She seems at first like a traditional housewife, cooking and cleaning, and he does the chores of a handyman. Detective Sergeant Trotter is very focused on finding out who the murderer is and is very professional. But none of these people are as normal as they appear at first. The "odd" characters seem to represent society's anxieties about breaking gender norms and encouraging freedom of expression. But the "normal" characters show that outwardly meeting society's expectations does not mean that things will return to the conservative ideas of the "good old days."

The comedy in this show was so dark and perfectly timed. I also loved how oblivious everyone was, it added to the hilarity when a character was missing something obvious or not realizing how ridiculous the situation was. At the beginning of the show, Giles comes home and his wife picks up his coat, scarf, and hat at the exact moments the voice on the radio is describing the garments of the murderer and they match exactly. Her timing was so amazing which is what made it hilarious. The universal suspiciousness of everyone's behavior was also very funny. Mr. Paravicini was not very helpful when it came to the fears of the other guests about their possible impending murders. He was going around the premises singing and playing three blind mice, which is the song that the murderer has chosen as their theme. During the interrogation, every character is doing something suspicious, but synchronous with everyone else being suspicious, so no one notices. The characters all also frantically and nervously unwrap candies, very noisily, until the detective has to take the candies away. I thought this was very funny because it was a callback to the announcement theaters usually make at the beginning of the show about not unwrapping candies during the show. Here, unwrapping candies is one of the most suspicious things the characters do in the show.

People who would like this show are people who like comedy paired with murder, unfiltered post-war weirdos, and suspicious candy wrappers. I think this is an absolutely hilarious and delightfully twisting show. I loved it.


Photos: Michael Brosilow