“The Mousetrap" at Augustana College -- November 13 through 16.
Thursday, November 13, through Sunday, November 16
Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center, 3750 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL
A legendary mystery thriller that stands as the longest-running West End show of all time, the play having reached its 30,000th performance this past March, Agatha Christie's timeless classic The Mousetrap opens Augustana College's 2025-26 mainstage theatre season with its November 13 through 16 run, The Times calling the show "elaborately skillful" and The Daily Express praising its "atmosphere of shuddering suspense."
In The Mousetrap, after a local woman is murdered, the guests and staff at Monkswell Manor find themselves stranded during a snowstorm. It soon becomes clear that the killer is among them, and the seven strangers grow increasingly suspicious of one another. A police detective, arriving on skis, interrogates the suspects: the newlyweds running the house; a spinster with a curious background; an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef; a retired Army major; a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift; and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. When a second murder takes place, however, tensions and fears escalate. This record-breaking suspense thriller features a brilliant surprise finish from Dame Agatha Christie, the foremost mystery writer of her time, and her play was hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "a masterpiece," which added that "of all the stage versions of Christie’s books, The Mousetrap is by far the best.”
Directing The Mousetrap for Augustana is the college's Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Jennifer Popple, whose recent productions have included Proof, Dracula: a feminist revenge fantasy, and Shakespeare's Macbeth. Augustana senior Alyssa Ogrodny serves as Popple's stage manager for the fourth year in a row, and additional members of the show's creative team include: assistant stage managers Sarah Piper and Shane Bahns; costume designer Becki Arnold; assistant costume designer Myles Smith; set, lighting, and sound designer Mike Turczynski; assistant lighting designer Bella Perkins; assistant sound designer Sarah Thul; electrics crew Amber Aviles, Alex Morales, Norah Shultz, and Cole Stoltman; lighting board operator Haven Perdomo; and dialect coach (and Augustana alum) James Wheeler.
The mystery's investigator Sergeant Trotter, meanwhile, is portrayed by Ryan Sondgeroth, with his Mousetrap suspects played by Jack Pawlak (as Giles Ralston), Max de Buys (as Christopher Wren), Madeline Hutchinson (as Mrs. Boyle), Kallik Ewen (as Major Metcalf), Lydia Benesh (as Miss Casewell), Callum Tait (as Mr. Paravicini), and Bethany Yanchick and Vanessa Williams, alternating the role of Mollie Ralston. (Yanchick performs Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and Williams performs on Saturday.)
Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap will be staged in Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center November 13 through 16, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $10-15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)794-7306 and visiting Augustana.edu/arts/ticket-office.
