Since its opening in London’s West End in 1952, “The Mousetrap” has been performed continually, and is the longest-running play of all time. Written by Dame Agatha Christie, famed for her classic whodunit detective stories, the play has achieved massive popularity and is known for its suspense and twist ending.

On the 9^th through 11^th SDA hosted its own version of the play, put together by teacher Stephanie Sears’s 3^rd period drama production class. The class did an excellent job, and with an eight person cast and large stage crew, they created a memorable performance.

My family and I are longtime fans of Agatha Christie, and we went to see the play last Saturday. As soon as we saw the set it instantly made us feel like we were in one of Christie’s novels, the 1950s décor and clothing and excellent British accents supplied by the cast were spot on. My parents even remarked that it was just as good a production as the similar plays they had seen at the North Coast Repertory.

The play centers around a young couple who have just opened up a guesthouse in an old manor, and find themselves snowed in. To their dismay, a policeman arrives and informs them that one of their guests could be a murderer. The guests include a retired army major, a sharp young woman, a dashing young man, an excitable foreigner, and a hard-to-please former magistrate.

The murder took place at the end of the first scene, accompanied by several blood-curdling screams. After we had recovered from our brief heart attacks, we filed out of the theatre for intermission, where everyone immediately began to discuss who they thought the murderer was.

“I bet it’s the wife. Wives are sneaky like that.”

“I think it might be the policeman.”

“I thought it was [redacted], but they’re dead now, so I guess I was wrong.”

“The murderer looked like a man before the lights went out, so it’s narrowed down to five.”

“It’s definitely not the husband.”

“There’s something strange about [redacted], but I can’t tell if they’re a killer.”

This was just some of the conversation I heard before the lights in the lobby flickered, prompting us back into the theatre for acts II and III. The second half was more suspenseful by far, with the remaining occupants of the guesthouse frightened by the murder and desperate to prove their innocence. There was so much action that by the time of the dénouement nobody knew what to think anymore.

True to its word, the ending was quite a surprise. I was not expecting the villain to be who they were, and a few other character reveals came completely out of left field as well.

Overall, I thought the play was excellent, and the combination of an exciting plot and brilliant acting made SDA’s production wonderful to watch. Its run may be over, but if you ever get a chance to see “The Mousetrap” at another location, I would highly recommend it.