The Mousetrap

We had our second night out without children in a fortnight (such a rare rare thing that I really don't think it's happened in the last 4 and a bit years) to go and watch The Mousetrap at Canberra Theatre.

We were invited by my friend Justin Smith who was playing one of the lead roles in the play and offered Amy and I (excellent) tickets while the play was doing its run in Canberra.

The Mousetrap is the longest running play in London's West End and has played uninterrupted for decades. Now it's doing an official Australian tour, which could last up to 12 months. All 9 nights in Canberra were sold out ages ago and it next heads off to Perth for 10 days and then Melbourne for a further 3 months.

I hadn't seen Justin for quite a few years, when he and his wife Sophie visited Newbury. He's a respected actor in Australia now and played the lead role. It was amazing to see someone you knew on stage in front of a sell out audience. I've seen a couple of friends and an old school teacher in am-dram performances, but they were inconsequential when compared to this.

The Mousetrap is a murder mystery set in England just after the war. All of the characters are pretty eccentric and all of the actors pulled off the English accent admirably. Justin had hundreds of lines. It was a really 'tight' performance, with all of the (really accomplished) actors playing their roles well, making for a tremendous performance. Obviously Justin was star of the show, but then I guess we were biased.

The Mousetrap (Justin is second from right)