ANNA MARIA – It’s only fitting that Manatee County’s oldest community theater would continue its historic 75th season with the world’s longest-running play.
Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” is directed by Heiko Knipfelberg and stage-managed by Denise Handley. The play originally began running in London’s West End in 1952 and is the latest offering from the Island Players. Anyone who likes a classic murder mystery will not only enjoy trying to figure out who the killer is but also have plenty of laughs along the way.
Guests arrive in the lobby of Monkswell Manor, a large, renovated guesthouse reopened by Mollie (Sylvia Marnie) and Giles Ralston (Eric Johnson). As a blizzard engulfs the countryside, the house is filled with a clientele that doesn’t lack in strong individual personality as each character is a walking cliche.
Mrs. Boyle (Catherine Penta) is an old fussbudget who is not happy with her accommodations, or anything else for that matter, especially the lack of servants. Mr. Paravicini (Dan Coppinger) is a suspiciously impromptu guest who leans heavily on the fourth wall for his over-the-top rants. Christopher Wren, brilliantly played by director Heiko Knipfelberg, is bouncing off the walls with an enthusiasm to cause trouble. Retired military man Maj. Metcalf (Hugh Scanlon) and Miss Casewell (Kristin Mazzitelli) slink in and out of the background, watching and listening for… something. Not much is known of them and maybe they are not who they appear to be.
The trap is set when they receive word that there is a killer on the loose, a deranged psychopath obsessed with the nursery rhyme, “Three Blind Mice.” Their worst nightmares are confirmed after the grisly murder of one of the guests.
As the snowstorm severs the phone lines, Det. Sgt. Trotter (Colin Brady) bursts in and begins a thorough investigation, confirming everyone’s suspicions that a resident in the guesthouse is the murderer. It’s up to Mollie and Giles to put together the pieces of the puzzle, but after discovering that each harbors a secret of their own, they can’t even trust each other.
Of course, there’s a twist ending, but that won’t be revealed here. Fortunately, “The Mousetrap” runs through Sunday, Jan. 28, with performances Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are available for $28 at the box office or by calling 941-778-5755, or for $30 online at www.theislandplayers.org. The theater is located at 10009 Gulf Drive on the corner of Gulf Drive and Pine Avenue in Anna Maria.
