Ann Wenn – There Ought To Be Clowns

“I had my suspicions from the start”

One of the best things about Twitter for me has not just been connecting online with all sorts of new theatrical buddies but actually taking the next step and meeting up with them to share our mutual passion for theatre. So when the ever-fragrant @pcchan1981 suggested a group trip to see Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap for those who had not previously had the pleasure, six of us made our way to the St Martins Theatre for a Saturday matinée.

The statistics accompanying this show are frankly ridiculous: over 23,000 performances over 59 years which makes it the longest running show of any kind in the world, an all-the-more impressive scenario when one considers that it is a murder mystery that relies on the discretion of its viewers to not give away exactly whodunit – indeed, at the curtain call we are exhorted not to reveal the identity(s) of the guilty party(s). But is it a show worthy of its long-running status? Continue reading “Review: The Mousetrap, St Martins”

“The problem with the young is not just that they think they’re right, but that they know they’re right”

A Daughter’s A Daughter, one of Agatha Christie’s lesser known and rarely performed plays , which was a very late addition to the programme at the Trafalgar Studios, running for just four weeks before The Caretaker takes over. It was written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, who was Christie’s alter ego for more romantic material, and is seen here for the first time in over 50 years in only its second ever large-scale staging.

It eschews the familiar thriller territory of Christie’s regular work for a more intimate drama, a tale of the relationship between a mother and daughter who allow bitterness, jealousy and resentment to challenge the bonds between them. Returning from 3 years in the army at the end of the Second World War, Sarah Prentice discovers a cuckoo in her family nest, her mother Ann is now engaged to a chap who is equally unfond of the new arrival in the life of his betrothed. In a battle of wills, Sarah’s behaviour then forces Ann into making the choice between her daughter and her fiancé: Sarah ‘wins’ but at a massive price, as we follow the pair for the next few years as they futilely search for happiness and comfort in men and booze whilst not letting go of the resentment and selfishness between them. Continue reading “Review: A Daughter’s A Daughter, Trafalgar Studios”