The Leader

Leader Weekends: Theatre Review (Mousetrap's 70th & From Here to Eternity)

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Episode notes

The world’s longest-running show, The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie, celebrates 70 years, and the “untraditional” new musical 'From Here to Eternity' – with music that could leave you “tapping your feet”.


This week, chief theatre critic Nick Curtis is joined by Nick Clark, deputy culture editor, to unpick two more shows from London.


Part 1: From Here to Eternity, the musical by Tim Rice and Stuart Brayson - The Charing Cross Theatre

  • From Here to Eternity, the story set around the time of Pearl Harbour
  • Why it’s an untraditional musical and not based on the film
  • The intimacy of using Charing Cross Theatre, the production, the staging, and bringing the audience inside the story
  • Why it’s all about the music and not all about the performances
  • Does the show lack jeopardy?
  • Which male cast member looks “like a love child of Benedict Cumberbatch and Will Poulter”?


Part 2: Celebrating 70 years of The Mousetrap – St. Martin’s Lane Theatre

  • Marking 70 years of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap – the world’s longest-running show
  • What The Mousetrap is about and the “Cluedo” characters
  • 2022: The marketing, the history, selfies and “adding a knowing wink to the audience”
  • How Christie underestimated the length of time the play would actually run
  • The cultural phenomenon of The Mousetrap and surviving Covid 19
  • Can you even review The Mousetrap?
  • How radical Agatha’s writing is and why those who enjoy Poirot would really enjoy this play
  • Which Broadway show does The Mousetrap beat in longevity?


What show should you see this Christmas?


Well, this is your weekly Theatre Review from the Evening Standard.


Visit standard.co.uk/culture or find us on Twitter #TheLeaderPodcast



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