Time and Place

As we move through the last third of the rehearsals for The Mousetrap it's interesting to ponder the country manor murder canon to see how the scenario is cliched and what we need to make this work. The play is a period piece, costumes, furniture, accents are all of another time and place.

The current crew discussion is about the carpet sweeper. I am pretty sure there wouldn't be a vacuum cleaner. I don't believe it would be a plastic sweeper, and given the war that it is not likely to be metal one either, so the hunt is on for a wooden one.  I'm not sure they had bakelite even. Given it is carried through and referred to we do need to have it.

Other issues are the gun, the script says revolver and I think that's what we need, while currently we have a German or US automatic.

Getting the right couch has been a constant worry.  Would one of the characters be eating an apple in winter?  Is the manor on a sewerage system, prompted by the line about the downstairs water closet? When did rationing finish? Were there still travel issues and what papers were people carrying? How did phones work in those days? What music were they allowed to play on the radio?  All playlists were approved by the Ministry of something.

As well as this verisilimitude the crux for the show though is getting attitudes and behaviour right.
English stiff upper lip, the mores and customs are now quite foreign to us, whereas 25 years ago we knew the conventions and rules a lot better.  One of the issues is the rapid rise of US television here. I read recently children here see more American Tv than anywhere else in the world, including the US.  Downton Abbey is a welcome arrival.

The deference to the upper class and the class system are further from us than ever before.  We are rapidly creating a new class system but it is closer to Dallas than Agatha Christie.

The early discussions on men standing for women as they entered the room,  women not shaking hands with men, how to sit on a chair were just the start.

The younger cast members haven't seen a lot of the old murder mysteries. The whole issue of how people react and defer are all a little complicated.

If we are to succeed in this work we can't let the audience think... 'That's wrong'.

The characters, their attitudes and movements need to fit.  And this is a part of the work in the next 3 weeks.