Agatha Christie Writes: The Mousetrap Opens

A murder mystery opened in London's West End on November 25, 1952, and simply never closed. Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap," a whodunit set in a snowed-in guesthouse, began its run at the Ambassadors Theatre with modest expectations. Over seven decades later, it holds the record as the longest-running play in world theater history, a phenomenon that has outlasted every prediction and every critic who called it slight. Christie adapted the play from a radio piece she had written in 1947 called "Three Blind Mice," commissioned as a birthday gift for Queen Mary. The 30-minute broadcast starred the young Richard Attenborough. Christie expanded it into a full-length play at the suggestion of producer Peter Saunders, who initially hoped for a run of about eight months. The opening-night cast included Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim. Reviews were polite but unenthusiastic. The play's survival defied logic. London theater is brutal to mediocrity. Plays that receive stronger reviews close after weeks. "The Mousetrap" thrived on a combination of tourist appeal, word of mouth, and a tradition in which every audience member is asked not to reveal the killer's identity. This request, made during the curtain call, created a self-perpetuating mystique. The play moved to the larger St Martin's Theatre in 1974 and continued without interruption until March 2020, when COVID-19 forced its first closure in 68 years. Christie herself never expected the play's longevity. She assigned the royalties to her grandson Matthew Prichard as a ninth birthday present, making him wealthy beyond all reasonable expectation. By the time of Christie's death in 1976, "The Mousetrap" had already been running for 24 years. The play that was supposed to last a season has now outlived its creator by half a century.