Cluedo meets Among Us for Christie’s marvellous whodunit

Skip forward nearly 30 years and I finally got to see it at The Lowry in Salford. Amazingly, I’d managed to avoid finding out whodunit during those previous decades.

And without revealing any spoilers I can testify I never saw what was coming in what is perhaps one of the greatest plot twists to ever grace the stage.

It was a good time to see this excellent production that is celebrating the 70th anniversary of this show which – for good reason – is the longest-running in the world.

The cast of the iconic murder-mystery included Todd Carty (EastEnders, Grange Hill, Dancing on Ice) who plays Major Metcalf and Gwyneth Strong (known for playing Cassandra in Only Fools and Horses) as the cantankerous Mrs Boyle.

And Hollie Sullivan as landlady Mollie Ralston was superb, striking the balance between comedy and murderous intrigue adeptly.

Without giving anything away, a newly married couple running a guest house end up with five guests on their opening night as a snow storm rages outside cutting them off from the outside world.

But little do they know they are in mortal danger, as a local sergeant explains after making it to them on his skis before tragedy can strike.

With thorough questioning he tries to determine if there is, indeed, a killer amongst them.

And what follows is something akin to the board game Cluedo and the popular online computer game Among Us.

The entire play is set in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, Berkshire, and – with expert lighting – it becomes the perfect location for laugh-out-loud moments and shocking scenes that expose the play’s macabre roots.

Agatha Christie insisted it be on the contract for the play that no movie version could be made, probably to ensure the dramatic plot twist would never become common knowledge.

The Mousetrap runs at The Lowry until Saturday, April 13, if you want to find out whodunit.

Tickets are available at https://thelowry.com/whats-on/the-mousetrap/