St Martin's Theatre: The Mousetrap
Why is it significant?
On West Street two small theatres stand shoulder to shoulder: the Ambassadors and, next to it, the St Martin's, with a sign announcing a show that has been playing in London for more than seventy years. Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.
Key Facts
| Place | St Martin's Theatre: The Mousetrap |
|---|---|
| Address | West Street, London WC2H 9NZ, United Kingdom |
| Geo Coordinates | 51.51290, -0.12780 |
| Part of Walk | Curtain Up: London's West End Theatreland, from the Savoy to Covent Garden and Leicester Square |
| Generated | Generated |
On West Street two small theatres stand shoulder to shoulder: the Ambassadors and, next to it, the St Martin's, with a sign announcing a show that has been playing in London for more than seventy years. Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap.
It began as a short radio play called Three Blind Mice, written in 1947 for the eightieth birthday of Queen Mary, who was a great fan of Christie's books. Christie expanded it for the stage, and on 6 October 1952 it opened at the Ambassadors, with Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim in the leading roles. Christie herself is said to have expected a run of a few months.
In 1974, after more than twenty years, it simply moved next door to the larger St Martin's, without missing more than a weekend. It has been playing ever since, through decimalisation, the internet and more than a dozen prime ministers, well past twenty-five thousand performances. The only real interruption came in March 2020, when the pandemic closed every theatre in London, and it was back on stage in May 2021. It is the longest-running play in the world, and actors joke that it has outlived the original cast, the original critics and quite a few of its audience.
Then there is the secret. At the end of every performance, the cast asks the audience not to reveal who the murderer is, and millions of people have kept that promise. Christie also insisted that no film version be made while the play runs in the West End. She gave the rights to her grandson as a present when he was a boy, which must make it one of the most generous birthday gifts in the history of the theatre.
So if you ever want to buy a ticket for the oldest secret in London, this is the box office. Now keep going to the end of West Street and turn left onto Charing Cross Road, to the busy roundabout of Cambridge Circus and a red-brick palace of terracotta.