Agatha Christie's THE MOUSETRAP Comes To Silver Spring Stage 6/26-7/26

Silver Spring Stage presents Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, directed by Pauline Griller-Mitchell and produced by Richard Ley, the suspenseful mystery of guests trapped in a small hotel and a
detective's search for a killer before the guests are all murdered.  The Mousetrap will
perform weekends June 26 to July 26 - note: no performances July 4th weekend.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices range from $13 to $18. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees on July 12 and  July 26 at 2:00 PM. Please note that there will not be performances on the July 4th weekend. Tickets can be purchased at
www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

Under the definition of mystery, there should always be an entry for Agatha Christie.  With her famous characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marples and her stylish renderings of plots and suspense, she brought the thriller genre to new heights.  In fact, Christie is considered the best-selling writer of all time; only the Bible is known to have outsold her.  The Mousetrap is the longest running play in the world, with over 23,500 performances since beginning its run in the
West End of London in 1952. The play was inspired by the real-life case of the death  of a boy, Dennis O'Neill, who was in the care of a Shropshire farmer and his wife in 1945.  Christie first wrote the story in a short radio play in 1947 called "Three Blind Mice."  When rewriting as a full-length play, she renamed it The Mousetrap from Hamlet, which is the name Hamlet gives the play within a play to catch the king.  It is the tradition of The Mousetrap at the end of every performance to ask the audience not to reveal the whodunit's ending.  Audiences will enjoy the brilliant twists and turns of the master Christie spinning suspense on the stage at Silver Spring!

The story is about a young couple, Mollie (Laurel Green) and Giles (Doug Krehbiel) Ralston, who have started up a new hotel in the converted Monkswell Manor. They are snowed in together with guests Christopher Wren (Taylor Kulp), Mrs Boyle (Laurie Freed), Major Metcalf (GorDon Adams), Miss Casewell (Elizabeth Replogle) and Mr. Paravicini (Keith Brown). Detective Sergeant Trotter
(David Dieudonné) arrives on skis to inform the group that he believes a murderer is on his way to the hotel, following the death of Miss Maureen Lyon in London. When Mrs. Boyle is killed, they realize that the murderer is already there. Though suspicion falls first on one of the guests, it quickly emerges that the killer could be any one of the guests, or even the hosts themselves.

The production team includes Laura Aylward (Assistant Director), Rob Allen (Stage Manager), Andrew Greenleaf (Set Design), Jessie Slater (Light Design), Nick Sampson (Sound Design), Sandy Eggleston (Costume Design), Eric Henry (Set Construction), Margie Henry (Props Design), Joan Rosenboom (Set Dressing) and Anna Britton (Scenic Painter).

The Stage's 2009-2010 "Appearances Can Be Deceiving!" season opens with the 2009 One Act Festival (Aug. 13-Aug. 30), the poetic The Glass Menagerie (Sept. 11-Oct. 4), the surprising The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (Oct. 30-Nov. 22), the holiday family show The Little Princess (Dec. 4-Dec. 20), the thriller Death and the Maiden (Jan. 15-Feb. 7),  the hilarious mystery Die, Mommie,
Die! (Mar. 5-Mar. 28), the moving Rabbit Hole (Apr. 16-May 9), the enchanting Pygmalion (June 4-June 27), and the provocative Fat Pig and (July 16-Aug. 8).

Silver Spring Stage has provided quality, affordable theatre for over 40 years. We are an all-volunteer, non- profit organization and appreciate any contribution to enable us to offer excellent and entertaining productions. Thank you for your interest and support of Silver Spring Stage. All programs at Silver Spring Stage are made possible in part by grants from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Maryland State Arts Council.