PRESS RELEASE – Friday 8 November 2019 IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE WWW.MOUSETRAPONTOUR.COM

Adam Spiegel and Stephen Waley-Cohen present THE MOUSETRAP TOUR 2020

• ’S LEGENDARY MURDER MYSTERY THE MOUSETRAP ANNOUNCES BRAND NEW DATES FOR 2020 WITH THE HIT UK TOUR NOW SET TO VISIT MORE THAN 80 VENUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

• THE RECORD-BREAKING WEST END RUN CONTINUES AT THE ST MARTIN’S , NOW IN ITS 68TH YEAR WHERE IT HAS RECENTLY CELEBRATED ITS 28,000TH PERFORMANCE

• BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND, THE MOUSETRAP HIT THE ROAD WITH A SECOND MAJOR NATIONAL TOUR IN JANUARY 2019 AND HAS BEEN THRILLING AUDIENCES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

• TELEVISION STAR SUSAN PENHALIGON PLAYS MRS BOYLE ON THE UK TOUR THROUGH TO JULY 2020

• FOR BOOKING INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT: WWW.MOUSETRAPONTOUR.COM

The world renowned murder mystery The Mousetrap from Queen of Crime Dame Agatha Christie today announces further extensive dates for the hit UK tour which will return in 2020, opening at Poole Lighthouse from 21-25 January and then continuing to travel the length and breadth of the country until November 2020. Television star Susan Penhaligon (Bouquet of Barbed Wire, A Fine Romance, Emmerdale) who joined the tour in the summer, will play Mrs Boyle through to July 2020, with further casting to be announced in due course. Following the success of the first ever UK tour in 2012, the timeless thriller returned to the road by popular demand in January 2019, and has been earning standout reviews from critics and public alike. Directed by Gareth Armstrong, the tour will visit more than 80 venues in total as it continues throughout 2020.

Now in its 68th year, The Mousetrap continues a record-breaking run in the West End where it recently celebrated its 28,000th performance at the St Martin’s Theatre. First seen in Nottingham in 1952 starring Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim, The Mousetrap went on to become the world’s longest running stage production following its West End transfer to The Ambassadors in 1952 and St Martin’s in 1973 where it has played ever since.

The Mousetrap tour will return in 2020 at Poole Lighthouse and will then visit Hull New, Billingham Forum, Swindon Wyvern, Yeovil Octagon, Plymouth Theatre Royal, Leicester Haymarket, Aylesbury Waterside, Doncaster Cast, Dublin Gaiety, Cork Opera House, Inverness Eden Court, Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall Theatre, Hastings White Rock, Wolverhampton Grand, Skegness Embassy, Bath Theatre Royal, The Courtyard Hereford, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Southampton Mayflower, Weston-Super-Mare Playhouse, Shrewsbury Severn, Grand, Manchester Opera House, Buxton Opera House, Leeds Grand, Ipswich Regent, Cambridge Corn Exchange, New Brighton Floral Pavilion, Wellingborough Castle Theatre, Lichfield Garrick, Edinburgh Kings, King’s Lynn Corn Exchange and Chelmsford Civic.

The full cast includes Susan Penhaligon (Mrs Boyle), Martin Allanson (Detective Sgt. Trotter), Laura Costello (Miss Casewell), Steven Elliott (Mr Paravicini), John Griffiths (Major Metcalf), Edith Kirkwood (Mollie Ralston), Adam Lilley (Giles Ralston) and George Naylor (Christopher Wren). Susan Penhaligon will perform with the tour through to Manchester Opera House with her final performance taking place on 18 July 2020. Further star casting for the role of Mrs Boyle will be announced in due course.

Gareth Armstrong (Director) has worked across the world as both a director and actor. He was an Artistic Director of ’s Sherman Theatre where he directed classics including Shakespeare, Shaw and Chekov and modern works from Coward to Stoppard. He is a founding director of the Made in Stage Company and previously an Associate Artist Director at the Salisbury Playhouse. Gareth most recently directed Hugh Whitemore’s Sand in the Sandwiches seen in the West End and on UK tour. He has written and performed his own solo play, Shylock, which premiered at the Salisbury Playhouse and toured internationally for ten years.

Susan Penhaligon (Mrs Boyle) is well-known for her role in the ITV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire, as Helen Barker in the ITV sitcom A Fine Romance, and as Jean Hope in Emmerdale. She has toured the UK with stage productions including The Importance of being Earnest, Cabaret, Rehearsal for Murder, And Then There Were None, The Constant Wife, Verdict and Dangerous Obsessions. Stage credits also include Caste (), Murder on Air (Theatre Royal Windsor), Broken Glass (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Compliant Love (Palace Theatre) and The Cherry Orchard (Royal Exchange). Susan has also appeared on film in Top Dog, Citizen Versus Kane, Say that You Love Me, Say Hello to Yesterday and Private Road.

Martin Allanson’s (Detective Sgt. Trotter) theatre credits include: Wuthering Heights (Birmingham Rep & UK Tour), Coco (Sadler's Wells), 55 Days and Fabrika Hill (), Riot (National Theatre Studio), How The Vote Was Won (), Bouncers (Guildford Fringe), Lee Harvey Oswald (Finborough Theatre), Tomorrow/Seppuku (), Machine Gunners (Polka Theatre), In an Instant and Christmas (Theatre 503), His Face, Her Face (Bath Theatre). Television includes Doctors, Hashtag, Tosh, The Private Life of Monarchs.

Laura Costello (Miss Casewell) recently graduated from The Oxford School of Drama. Credits include: Sandy in Flashes (); LV in the Rise and Fall of Little Voice; Fanny Willoughby in Quality Street; and Annie in Chicago (Pitlochry Festival Theatre Rep 2018 Company), Eliza in The Tide Jetty (Eastern Angels tour).

Steven Elliott’s (Mr Paravicini) theatre credits include Danny Boyle’s production of Frankenstein and Sir Nicholas Hytner’s The Winter’s Tale plus other productions during his seasons at the . David Edgar’s Pentecost and A Christmas Carol amongst others at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Professor Marcus in The Ladykillers (UK tour). Steven is an Associate Artist at Theatr Clwyd and has performed with many other theatre companies such as National Theatre Wales and Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Television credits include The Crown, Da Vinci’s Demons, Holby City, Inspector Morse, Judge John Deed and S4C’s Porthpenwaig. Film includes The Watcher in the Woods, Les Misérables, Hamlet, Time Bandits and NT Live recordings of King Lear, True West and Frankenstein.

John Griffiths’ (Major Metcalf) credits include The Sound of Music ( Palladium), The Woman in White (Palace Theatre), The Royal Family (Haymarket), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s) and Oliver! (Aldwych). He has also appeared in the national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well as Volpone at the National Theatre and The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kiss Me Kate and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. John is delighted to be touring for the second successive year in The Mousetrap UK Tour.

Edith Kirkwood (Mollie Ralston) has starred in Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre), Peculiar Distractions (York Theatre Royal), The Princess and the Sprout, Billy Shakes: Wonder Boy, Peter Pan in the Park, Three (Wrongsemble), Austen the Musical (Old Hall Theatre), Simeon’s Watch, Baked Alaska, Inheritance, Fantastic Acts (Riding Lights), Blood and Chocolate (Slung Low/Pilot), The Star Child (Tell Tale Theatre), York Mysteries 2012, Two Planks and a Passion (York Theatre Royal/Riding Lights). Edith is also Associate Artist for Leeds based family theatre company Wrongsemble.

Adam Lilley (Giles Ralston) most recently appeared in the 2019 UK tour of Rain Man and previously in the West End in The 39 Steps and The King’s Speech. His other theatre credits include Gaslight (UK tour); Dangerous Obsession (English Theatre of Hamburg); Encounter (, London), Maurice (Off-West End Award nomination for Best Male Performance - Above The Stag Theatre, London) As You Like It and The Comedy of Errors (Guildford Shakespeare Company). TV and screen credits include: Autopsy: The Last Hours of Larry Hagman, Queers, Final Hours, A Violent Mind.

George Naylor’s (Christopher Wren) theatre credits include: One Man Two Guvnors (Torch Theatre); Wendy and Peter Pan (Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh); Much Ado About Nothing (Heartbreak Productions); The Rover, Conspiracy, Madness in Valencia, The Taming of the Shrew, London Cuckolds (The Richard Burton Company); Boys (Open Letter Theatre Company) and Macbeth (Guildford Shakespeare Company). Television credits include: Web of Lies and Casualty.

The Mousetrap continues its open-ended run at St. Martin’s Theatre, London.

-ENDS- For further information please contact Chloe Pritchard-Gordon / Su-Ann Chow-Seegoolam / Olivia O’Neill The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657

LISTINGS

TOUR DATES

Tuesday 21 – Saturday 25 January 2020 POOLE LIGHTHOUSE THEATRE www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/ 01202 280 000 Monday 27 January – Saturday 1 February 2020 HULL NEW THEATRE www.hulltheatres.co.uk/ 01482 300 306 Monday 3 – Saturday 8 February 2020 BILLINGHAM FORUM THEATRE www.forumtheatrebillingham.co.uk/ 01642 552 663 Monday 10 – Saturday 15 February 2020 SWINDON WYVERN THEATRE www.swindontheatres.co.uk/ 01793 524 481 Monday 17 – Saturday 22 February 2020 YEOVIL OCTAGON THEATRE www.octagon-theatre.co.uk/ 01935 422 884

Monday 24– Saturday 29 February 2020 PLYMOUTH THEATRE ROYAL www.theatreroyal.com/ 01752 267 222

Monday 9 - Saturday 14 March 2020 LEICESTER HAYMARKET THEATRE www.haytheatre.com/ 01162 961 236

Monday 16 – Saturday 21 March 2020 AYLESBURY WATERSIDE THEATRE www.atgtickets.com/venues/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/ 08448 717 607

Monday 23 – Saturday 28 March 2020 DONCASTER CAST www.castindoncaster.com/ 01302 303 959

Monday 30 March – Saturday 4 April 2020 DUBLIN GAIETY THEATRE www.gaietytheatre.ie/ 0818 719 388

Monday 6 – Saturday 11 April 2020 CORK OPERA HOUSE www.corkoperahouse.ie/ +352 (0) 21 427 0022

Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 April 2020 INVERNESS EDEN COURT www.eden-court.co.uk/ 01463 234 234

Tuesday 21 – Saturday 25 April 2020 TUNBRIDGE WELLS ASSEMBLY HALL THEATRE www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk/ 01892 530 613

Monday 27 April – Saturday 2 May 2020 HASTINGS WHITE ROCK www.whiterocktheatre.org.uk/ 01424 462 288

Tuesday 5 – Saturday 9 May 2020 WOLVERHAMPTON GRAND THEATRE www.grandtheatre.co.uk/ 01902 429 212

Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 May 2020 SKEGNESS EMBASSY THEATRE www.embassytheatre.co.uk/ 01754 474 100

Monday 25 – Saturday 30 May 2020 BATH THEATRE ROYAL www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ 01225 448 844

Monday 1 – Saturday 6 June 2020 – *on sale from 8 November THE COURTYARD HEREFORD www.courtyard.org.uk/ 01432 340 555

Monday 8 – Saturday 13 June 2020 NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL www.theatreroyal.co.uk/ 08448 112 1 21

Tuesday 16 – Saturday 20 June 2020 SOUTHAMPTON MAYFLOWER www.mayflower.org.uk/ 02380 711 811

Monday 22 – Saturday 27 June 2020 * on sale soon WESTON-SUPER-MARE www.theplayhouse.co.uk 01934 645 544 Monday 29 June – Saturday 4 July 2020 *on sale from 25 November SHREWSBURY SEVERN THEATRE www.theatresevern.co.uk/ 01743 281281

Monday 6 – Saturday 11 July 2020 SWANSEA GRAND THEATRE www.swansea.gov.uk/swanseagrandtheatre 01792 475 715

Monday 13 – Saturday 18 July 2020 MANCHESTER OPERA HOUSE www.atgtickets.com/venues/opera-house-manchester/ 0844 871 3018

Tuesday 25 to Saturday 29 August 2020 BUXTON OPERA HOUSE https://buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/ 01298 72190

Tuesday 1– Saturday 5 September 2020 LEEDS GRAND THEATRE www.leedsgrandtheatre.com/ 08448 482 700

Monday 7 – Saturday 12 September 2020 *on sale soon IPSWICH REGENT THEATRE www.ipswichtheatres.co.uk/ 01473 433 100

Monday 14 – Saturday 19 September 2020 *on sale 29 November CAMBRIDGE CORN EXCHANGE www.cambridgelive.org.uk/ 01223 357 851

Monday 28 September– Saturday 3 October 2020 *on sale in the new year NEW BRIGHTON FLORAL PAVILION www.floralpavilion.com/ 01516 660 000

Monday 5 – Saturday 10 October 2020 – *on sale in December WELLINGBOROUGH CASTLE THEATRE www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/castle-theatre 01933 270 007

Monday 12– Saturday 17 October 2020 – * general on sale from 22 November LICHFIELD www.lichfieldgarrick.com/ 01543 412 121

Monday 19– Saturday 24 October 2020 KINGS THEATRE EDINBURGH www.capitaltheatres.com/your-visit/kings-theatre 0131 529 6000

Monday 26– Saturday 31 October 2020 KING’S LYNN CORN EXCHANGE www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk/ 01553 764864

Monday 2 – Saturday 7 November 2020 - *on sale 13 December CHELMSFORD CIVIC THEATRE www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres/ 01245 606 505

West End:

THE MOUSETRAP St Martin’s Theatre West St, London WC2H 9NZ www.the-mousetrap.co.uk Box office 020 7836 1443