Longest-running play to go on tour for first time
Source: Agencies |
November 26, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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THE big mystery may be why it has not happened before, but Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" - the longest-running show in the world - will finally tour the UK in 2012 to mark its 60th birthday.
The play's diamond jubilee falls on November 25 next year, and yesterday, as it entered its 60th year, organizers announced a series of events to celebrate.
Yesterday's performance was the 24,587th, yet for all its popularity, the show's producer said he wants more. "I am very conscious that although we have had good houses for 60 years, the amount of people who have seen the show in London is about the same as a single show of 'Downton Abbey'," said Stephen Waley-Cohen, referring to a hit British TV period drama that attracts up to 10 million viewers per episode.
He said other plays had enjoyed a new lease of life following tours outside London.
"I have been aware that tours of many shows have enhanced their performance in London if they have been done to very high standards," he said. "I believe a high-quality tour will be good for London as well as for the 60 cities it visits."
The murder mystery began life as a radio play broadcast in 1947 which was then turned by its author into a short story and later into a stage play.
Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim starred in the original 1952 production at the Ambassadors Theatre, and actors ever since have repeated his curtain speech urging audiences to keep the identity of the murderer to themselves.
Asked to explain the secret of the play's success, Waley-Cohen said: "No one really knows, but I think it is two main things. One is the play is really good storytelling - it grabs and holds your attention.
"It (also) has contemporary resonances in child abuse, and a young woman who may or may not be what she seems to be, a young man who may or may not be what he seems to be, the sinister foreigner. They may sound like caricatures, but -Agatha Christie was a much cleverer writer than that."
"The Mousetrap" will tour the UK from September next year, its first stop at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.
It is expected to visit most of the country's main regional theaters during its run of up to 60 weeks. Each star actor will perform for 12 weeks.
The play's diamond jubilee falls on November 25 next year, and yesterday, as it entered its 60th year, organizers announced a series of events to celebrate.
Yesterday's performance was the 24,587th, yet for all its popularity, the show's producer said he wants more. "I am very conscious that although we have had good houses for 60 years, the amount of people who have seen the show in London is about the same as a single show of 'Downton Abbey'," said Stephen Waley-Cohen, referring to a hit British TV period drama that attracts up to 10 million viewers per episode.
He said other plays had enjoyed a new lease of life following tours outside London.
"I have been aware that tours of many shows have enhanced their performance in London if they have been done to very high standards," he said. "I believe a high-quality tour will be good for London as well as for the 60 cities it visits."
The murder mystery began life as a radio play broadcast in 1947 which was then turned by its author into a short story and later into a stage play.
Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim starred in the original 1952 production at the Ambassadors Theatre, and actors ever since have repeated his curtain speech urging audiences to keep the identity of the murderer to themselves.
Asked to explain the secret of the play's success, Waley-Cohen said: "No one really knows, but I think it is two main things. One is the play is really good storytelling - it grabs and holds your attention.
"It (also) has contemporary resonances in child abuse, and a young woman who may or may not be what she seems to be, a young man who may or may not be what he seems to be, the sinister foreigner. They may sound like caricatures, but -Agatha Christie was a much cleverer writer than that."
"The Mousetrap" will tour the UK from September next year, its first stop at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.
It is expected to visit most of the country's main regional theaters during its run of up to 60 weeks. Each star actor will perform for 12 weeks.
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