Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap

My directorial debut was with Sock & Buskin Theatre Company, a community theatre in central Pennsylvania. In Sept. 2023, we put on Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap for three sold out shows. We had an extremely successful run, with amazing performances by the actors. Part of my process for drawing out these great performances was identifying and building on the actors’ strengths as performers. Whenever possible, I let the actors build the characters the way they saw fit—adding interesting little touches that I could praise and encourage them to keep for the show itself.

The Mousetrap is set in a small, out-of-the-way guest house a short distance from London. Shortly after the maiden batch of guests arrive, a big snow storm hits and traps everyone–then the murders begin. A police officer investigates, knowing that there will be more murders and trying to figure out how to prevent them. As the isolated group becomes more and more suspicious of one another, tension rises.

Could the murderer be the person you least suspect?

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is mousetrap-cast.webp — *The Mousetrap* cast and director

In this video, the cast and I introduce ourselves and talk about the show.

Following production meetings, casting, and rehearsals, I filmed short reflections on my experience, which I then spliced together as “Director’s Cut.”

I also recorded the three Voice on the Radio parts, which were played during the show:

Voice on the Radio 1, Voice on the Radio 2, Voice on the Radio 3

And I wrote up dramaturg’s notes for the show, available here:

the-mousetrap-dramaturgs-notes Download