The Mousetrap tickets

The Mousetrap tickets are the most sought after of any West End show. The Mousetrap tickets tend to disappear pretty quickly, just like the bodies at Monkswell Manor! So, whether you’re tracking down the best Mousetrap theatre tickets, trying to figure out whodunnit before the rest of the guests, or you’re planning a thrilling first visit to the world’s longest running play, you’ll find tickets for The Mousetrap in London on sale now. We’ve got the best seats at all prices and you can even check best seat reviews with our interactive seat map.

Don’t just see it! Solve it! 

What’s The Mousetrap about?

As news spreads of a murder in London, a group of seven strangers find themselves snowed in at Monkswell Manor, a guesthouse deep in the English countryside, which was formerly a Stately Home. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst. One by one, the assembled characters reveal that they each have a sordid past – and a secret they would kill to keep hidden. But which one is a murderer…and who will be their next victim?

Can you solve the mystery before another “mouse” goes SNAP? 

The Mousetrap celebrates 70 years in London in 2022 and has been performed 28,200 times in London, selling over 10 million tickets. In 2002, The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh attended a special Gala performance to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this thrilling whodunnit. This outstanding production, from the greatest criminal novelist of all time, Agatha Christie, is now as iconic as Big Ben or Buckingham Palace.

The Mousetrap opened in London at the Ambassadors Theatre on Tuesday 25th November 1952, the same year Queen Elizabeth was crowned. They play is set in what was then “the present” – England 1952, when rationing was still in place.
 

The Mousetrap characters

If you can’t wait to start guessing whodunnit, here are the characters at Monkswell Manor so you can start your sleuthing early:

Mollie Ralston – Proprietor of the Manor, married to Giles Ralston. But why is she reluctant to help the police with their enquiries?
Giles Ralston – Runs Monkswell Manor with wife Mollie, but why does he take in paying guests when he takes such a dislike to some of them?
Christopher Wren – A hyperactive young man running away from something – but what? And why does Giles Ralston take against him so quickly?
Mrs Boyle – A critical older female character – nothing she sees pleases her. You can see why someone might want to kill her…but is that just a front?
Major Metcalf – A retired army man – but that’s all he’s giving away. He’s first to discover the phone line is dead…but does he know more than he’s letting on?
Miss Casewell – A slightly masculine, standoffish woman who had a horrific childhood – or so we’re led to believe.
Mr Paravicini – A man with a peculiar foreign accent that no-one can quite pin down...he says his car overturned in the snow, but is his story dodgier than his accent?
Detective Sergeant Trotter – He’s determined to get to the bottom of what’s going on and won’t let a little thing like a snowdrift stop him!

You’ll have to see the show to find out which of them has blood on their hands!

Agatha Christie’s awards

Through her career as an author, Agatha Christie was honoured with some of the greatest awards a writer can receive. These included the Edgar Award/Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America for Best Play – the first writer ever to be honoured for ‘exceptional achievement in the career of mystery writing’. Christie also received a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign play, and ‘The Anthony Award’ twice, presented to ‘the most admirable mystery writers of the decade’. In 1956, Agatha received a CBE, one of the highest honours of the British Commonwealth for her outstanding literary accomplishments. 

Five Clues to the Mousetrap’s enduring success

1. The play’s original name, Three Blind Mice, was changed after producer Emile Littler objected because he had produced a play with the same name. ‘The Mousetrap’ was the suggestion of Christie’s son-in-law, Anthony Hicks.
2. When she wrote the play, Christie gave the rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard as a birthday present. He used the money wisely, helping to support The Arts  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-20768657 in Wales.
3. ‘The Mousetrap’ comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where it is used as an alternative name for The Murder of Gonzago – a ‘play within a play’.
4. The identity of the murderer has never been publicly revealed – and the play cannot be published in the UK until the West End production closes…something we hope never happens!
5. The Mousetrap helped the show’s previous producer, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen set up The Mousetrap Foundation, now Mousetrap Theatre Projects https://www.mousetrap.org.uk . MTP helps young people experience London’s Theatre live, whatever their social, cultural or economic background. 

What the critics say about The Mousetrap

"[An] atmosphere of shuddering suspense” - The Daily Express
“elaborately skilful” – The Times
“Christie's best thrillers have a psychological conviction and a subtle sense of evil” – Time Out

The Mousetrap news

Enduring the test of time: The West End’s longest running shows 21st November 2019