Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap: World's longest running whodunit brings EastEnders' Nasty Nick, John Altman, back to Edinburgh

It is the original theatrical whodunit and the world's longest running play and to celebrate its 70th anniversary it's heading back to the Capital - Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap is coming to The Playhouse in 2023.
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The long-running West End production, widely recognised as the genre-defining murder mystery of all time, is back on tour with a killer in the cast.

As news spreads of a murder in London, a group of seven strangers find themselves snowed in at a remote countryside guesthouse. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst. One by one, the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts. Which one is the murderer? Who will be their next victim?

Can you solve this world-famous mystery for yourself?

John AltmanJohn Altman
John Altman
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For almost seven decades The Mousetrap has kept millions of people from every corner of the globe on the edge of their seats and when it returns to the Capital there will be more than a few familiar faces on the suspect list following the announcement of the full cast, which sees former EastEnders' bad boy favourite John Altman joining the company.

The 70-year-old actor, best know for playing Dot Cotton's son Nasty Nick in the BBC soap, completes the cast as Mr Paravicini in a company that also boasts Grange Hill, The Bill, and Dancing On Ice favourite Todd Carty as Major Metcalf, and Only Fool and Horses' star Gwyneth Strong as Mrs Boyle.

The cast is completed by Joelle Dyson as Mollie Ralston, Laurence Pears as Giles Ralston, Elliot Clay as Christopher Wren, Essie Barrow as Miss Casewell and Joseph Reed as Detective Sergeant Trotter.

Agatha Christie’s iconic thriller will run at the Edinburgh Playhouse April 25-29, 2023, with tickets now on sale here.

Gwyneth Strong in The MousetrapGwyneth Strong in The Mousetrap
Gwyneth Strong in The Mousetrap
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The Mousetrap started life as Three Blind Mice, a short radio play broadcast in 1947. A short story followed, which Christie asked not be published as long as it ran as a play in the West End of London – to this day, Three Blind Mice is yet to be published in the UK although it was published in a collection of a number of Christie’s short stories in the USA.

Following its 1952 world premiere at Nottingham's Theatre Royal and subsequent tour, The Mousetrap opened in the West End where, to this day, it continues its record-breaking run at the St Martin’s Theatre having been now performed more than 28,500 times - it ran continuously from 1952 until March 16, 2020, when performances had to be discontinued due to lockdown, re-opening on May 17, 2021.

Famous for its twist ending, it has become a tradition that audiences are asked to keep just whodunit a secret so as not to spoil the piece for future audiences.

Todd Carty in The MousetrapTodd Carty in The Mousetrap
Todd Carty in The Mousetrap

The Mousetrap first toured to Edinburgh in 2012 to celebrate the Diamond Anniversary of the West End production, on that occasion the cast brought Karl Howman, Jemma Walker, Clare Wilkie and Bruno Langley to town. The production returned in 2014.

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