AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MOUSETRAP CELEBRATES 60TH ANNIVERSARY WITH MILTON KEYNES VISIT

Agatha Christie classic The Mousetrap arrives at Milton Keynes Theatre from Monday (September 22). It is a classic slice of whodunit, a beloved murder mystery that also takes the title as 'longest running stage production; it has been at its London home for more than 55 years. As for who did do 'it' you will need to wait and see, but the plot is simple enough: 'The scene is set when a group of people gathered in a country house cut off by the snow discover, to their horror, that there is a murderer in their midst.
'One by one the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts until at the last, nerve-shredding moment the identity and the motives are finally revealed...'
When The Mousetrap launched, in 1952, it was the late Richard Attenborough and his film-star wife Sheila Sim who took the leading roles.
Since that time it has taken numerous Guinness World records, including that title for that longest continuous run of any show in the world.
Agatha Christie actually gave The Mousetrap to her grandson Matthew (below) as a present on his ninth birthday.
MPMG Mathew Prichard copy
"...probably nobody realised until much later what a marvellous present it was, but t is worth remembering that my grandmother had been through many times in her life when money was not plentiful," Mathew said. "It was therefore incredibly generous of her to give away such a play to her grandson, as in 1952 her books were only approaching the enormous success they have now become."   Did you know...? The Mousetrap has been thrilling audiences from around the world for as long as HRH Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne Since The Mousetrap opened, 419 actors and 243 understudies have appeared in the play On 25 November 2002, The Mousetrap celebrated its golden jubilee with a Birthday Gala performance attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. Lord (Richard) Attenborough gave the famous curtain speech exactly 50 years since he first delivered it in London: "Now you have seen The Mousetrap you are our partners in crime, and we ask you to preserve the tradition by keeping the secret of whodunit locked in your hearts." Agatha Christie became a Dame of the British Empire in 1971; her books have sold billions of copies around the world - more than any other author except Shakespeare and The Bible. She died on the 12th January 1976, aged 85 Tickets to see The Mousetrap at Milton Keynes Theatre are on sale now. Call 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes   > Also at the venue this week, Sing-a-long-a-Grease invites you to put on your pink jackets, grease up those quiffs and go sing like a T Bird or a Pink Lady. If you've seen the film, and you all have, you know what to do.  Sunday's performance begins at 7.30pm.