DIRECTOR: Alan Swerdlow

CAST: Ashley Dowds, Robert Fridjhon, Bronwyn Leigh, Matthew Lotter, Mark Rayment, Clyde Berning, Sarah Richard, Clare Marshall

VENUE: Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre

UNTIL: February 26

RATING: ***

Last done by Pieter Toerien and company on their 50th anniversary in 2002, The Mousetrap is back again for their 60th birthday celebrations.

This murder mystery has been entertaining audiences in London for what seems like forever and has become a tourist attraction that is a must-see, almost like Westminster or St Paul’s Cathedral.

It is, of course, an Agatha Christie play written and set midway through the previous century.

The story starts with the arrival of guests who become trapped in a newly opened guest house in the English countryside. The weather turns nasty, the telephone lines have been cut and someone has been murdered.

Director Alan Swerdlow is a master of reinventing period pieces such as 39 Steps and Around the World in 80 Days, but plays it straight with The Mousetrap by not not infusing it with a contemporary edge. Paying homage to both the period and Christie’s unique storytelling would have worked a charm here, though.

That’s a pity as it now plays into the nostalgia market rather than revamping and revitalising it for audiences who might not know much about the revered sleuth.

Much more fun could have been had with the costumes to enhance the characters, for example. Think Downton Abbey and Maggie Smith’s portrayal of Violet, the dowager countess of Grantham as the most extreme example.

If Clare Marshall’s character had been spiced up a bit and Bronwyn Leigh given a more vampish air, it could have added some nuance to the whole affair and given the actors more to work with.

What happens instead is that the different accents have to do the trick and that’s simply not enough.

Taking the audience into your confidence with a huge wink would have added to the fun of the piece rather than having to view it as something that needed just a light dusting.

It was an opportunity lost to establish yet another of Swerdlow’s smashing ensembles.

This is one that will be appreciated by older audiences familiar with the work and the writer rather than taking a cue from what’s happening out there in the edgy entertainment arena when dealing with the past.