Wesleyan High School’s Production of the Mousetrap

It’s quite an undertaking to produce a play with the esteemed history held by The Mousetrap, and the Wesleyan High School Theatre department was up to the task. This play written by Agatha Christie is the longest running play on London’s West End. 

When Christie wrote the play she agreed not to give the rights for a screen play until it was no longer running in the West End. That was in 1952.

Along with that agreement came the request to each audience attending the play, that they not reveal the ending. At the performance that I attended at Wesleyan we all raised our right hand and took an oath of silence. My lips are sealed. 

There’s so much excitement in the air before a high school play production. Lots of chatter. "My son forgot his contacts", says a hurried dad as he walks past. 

The play was well done. It was hard for me to believe I was watching a high school production. The set was perfect in every single detail. I was impressed as electric lights or a radio turned on at the flip of an actors finger. 

The acting was uniformly good. Being a play set in England in the 1950’s, I wondered if the choice had been made to use British accents, and if so, how that would go. Bravo to each actor and the coach for the good job they did of capturing accents from aristocrat to commoner to mysterious foreigner. All were distinctly different and distinctly good. 

Steve Broyles, the drama director was especially pleased to be doing this Christie play. “A murder mystery during the winter fits the mood of the season.”

The cast members in order of apperance were: Rebecca Ruiz (Mollie Ralston),Pete Eigel (Giles Ralston), Aaron Smay (Christopher  Wrern), Amanda Smay (Mrs. Boyle), Ricky Yoder (Major  Metcalf), Chandler Darnall (Miss Casewell),Drew Freeman (Mr. Paravicini), Nate Grice (Dective Sergent Trotter) and Kate Lackey (Stage Manager). A special kudo to Drew Freeman for making us all laugh out loud...a lot.

Two seniors performing in The Mousetrap were Amanda Smay and Rebecca Ruiz. Smay remarked that, “The thing I most enjoy about doing the play is getting to be someone completely different from myself.” She convincingly played an elderly woman and had the walk down to a tee. 

Of her experience Ruiz says,” I have learned that you have to be completely vulnerable to be an actor; you have to let your guards down in order to truly become someone else.” In her first play at Wesleyan, she did a great job with the formidable task of playing the female lead. 

You can get tickets for future productions at Wesleyan by going online to theatertickets@wesleyanschool.org. No doubt there will be much for us to look forward to with this talented drama department.