User:JuneAugust/The Mousetrap
| 捕鼠器 The Mousetrap | |
|---|---|
 2010年10月的伦敦圣马丁剧院 | |
| 劇作家 | 阿加莎·克里斯蒂 |
| 角色 |
|
| 首演日期 | 1952年10月6日[注释 1] |
| 首演地點 | 诺丁汉郡诺丁汉皇家剧院 |
| 原語言 | 英语 |
| 類型 | 侦探、犯罪 |
| 設定 | “在现今”、冬季、一间宾馆，蒙克斯威尔庄园（Monkswell） |
| 官方網站 | |
《捕鼠器》（The Mousetrap[注释 2]）是英国小说家阿加莎·克里斯蒂创作的一部讲述神秘谋杀案的舞台剧。自1952年在伦敦西区上演以来，《捕鼠器》一直在持续上演中。2012年11月18日，在迎来第25000场演出后，《捕鼠器》成为迄今为止持续公演时间最长的戏剧[2]，也是现代持续演出时间最长的演出节目（包括任何形式的）。该剧以其戏剧化的结局而著称。在传统上，观众被要求在离开剧院后保守秘密，不向外界透露该剧的“凶手是谁”[3]。
历史
The play began life as a short radio play broadcast on 30 May 1947 called Three Blind Mice in honour of Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. The play had its origins in the real-life case of the death of a boy, Dennis O'Neill, who died while in the 監護人 of a 什罗普郡 farmer and his wife in 1945.
The play is based on a 短篇小说, itself based on the radio play, but Christie asked that the story not be published as long as it ran as a play in the 西區 (倫敦). The short story has still not been published within the 英国 but it has appeared in the 美国 in the 1950 collection Three Blind Mice and Other Stories.
When she wrote the play, Christie gave the rights to her grandson Matthew Prichard as a birthday present. In the United Kingdom, only one production of the play in addition to the West End production can be performed annually,[4] and under the contract terms of the play, no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months.
The play had to be renamed at the insistence of Emile Littler who had produced a play called Three Blind Mice in the West End before the 第二次世界大战.[5] The suggestion to call it The Mousetrap came from Christie's son-in-law, Anthony Hicks.[6] In Shakespeare's play 哈姆雷特, "The Mousetrap" is Hamlet's answer to Claudius's inquiry about the name of the play whose prologue and first scene the court has just observed (III, ii). The play is actually The Murder of Gonzago, but Hamlet answers metaphorically, since "the play's the thing" in which he intends to "catch the conscience of the king."
The play's longevity has ensured its popularity with tourists from around the world. In 1997, at the initiative of producer Stephen Waley-Cohen, the theatrical education charity Mousetrap Theatre Projects was launched, helping young people experience London's theatre.[7]
湯姆·斯托帕德's 1968 play The Real Inspector Hound parodies many elements of The Mousetrap, including the surprise ending.[8]
舞台表演
作为一部舞台剧，《捕鼠器》曾于1952年10月6日在诺丁汉皇家剧院举行世界首演。它最初是由约翰和罗伊·博尔廷的哥哥，电影导演彼得·科茨执导。在1952年11月25日开始在伦敦的大使剧院上演之前，本剧曾在西区的牛津新剧院、曼彻斯特歌剧院、利物浦皇家宫廷剧院、纽卡斯尔皇家剧院、利兹大剧院以及伯明翰的亚历山德拉剧院做过巡回上演。演出直至1974年3月23日周六，之后转入临街场地更大的圣马丁剧院，于周一的3月25日重新上演。该剧在伦敦运行现在已经累计超过25000场演出。[9]
克里斯蒂自己没想到《捕鼠器》会持续公演如此之久。在她的自传中，她提到曾在一次与彼得·桑德斯的交谈中桑德斯提起“我打算给它（公演）14个月的时间”。然而克里斯蒂回答说：“它不会持续那么久。也许只有八个月。是的，我觉得八个月。”[10] When it broke the record for the longest run of a play in the West End in September 1957, Christie received a mildly grudging 电报 from fellow playwright 诺埃尔·科沃德: "Much as it pains me I really must congratulate you ..." In 2011 (by which time The Mousetrap had been running for almost 59 years) this long-lost document was found by a Cotswold furniture maker who was renovating a bureau purchased by a client from the Christie estate.[11]
The original West End cast included 李察·艾登堡祿 as Detective Sergeant Trotter and his wife Sheila Sim as Mollie Ralston. They took a 10% profit-participation in the production, which was paid for out of their combined weekly salary ("It proved to be the wisest business decision I've ever made... but foolishly I sold some of my share to open a short-lived Mayfair restaurant called 'The Little Elephant' and later still, disposed of the remainder in order to keep Gandhi afloat.")[12]
Since the retirement of Mysie Monte and David Raven, who each made history by remaining in the cast for more than 11 years, in their roles as Mrs Boyle and Major Metcalf, the cast has been changed annually. The change usually occurs around late November around the anniversary of the play's opening, and was the initiative of Sir Peter Saunders, the original producer. There is a tradition of the retiring leading lady and the new leading lady cutting a "Mousetrap cake" together.
The play has also made theatrical history by having an original "cast member" survive all the cast changes since its opening night. The late Deryck Guyler can still be heard, via a recording, reading the radio news bulletin in the play to this present day. The set has been changed in 1965 and 1999, but one prop survives from the original opening – the clock which sits on the mantelpiece of the fireplace in the main hall.
Notable milestones in the play's history include:
- 1955年4月22日——第1000场演出
- 1957年9月13日——Longest-ever run of a "straight" play in the West End
- 1958年4月12日——L以2239场演出成为伦敦西区演出最长纪录保持者（前任保持者是《朱清周》）
- 1964年12月9日——第5000场演出
- 1976年12月17日——第10000场演出
- 2000年12月16日——第20000场演出
- 2002年11月25日——《捕鼠器》50周年庆典，女王伊丽莎白二世和爱丁堡公爵菲利普亲王亲临现场[2]
- 2012年11月18日——第25000场演出
In May 2001 (during the London production's 49th year, and to mark the 25th anniversary of Christie's death) the cast gave a semi-staged Sunday performance at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea as a guest contribution to the Agatha Christie Theatre Festival 2001, a twelve-week history-making cycle of all of Agatha Christie's plays presented by Roy Marsden's New Palace Theatre Company.[13]
A staging at the Toronto Truck Theatre in 多伦多, 安大略, that opened on 19 August 1977 became 加拿大's longest running show, before finally closing on 18 January 2004 after a run of twenty-six years and over 9,000 performances.
On 18 November 2012, both the 25,000th performance and the 60th year of the production were marked by a special charity performance which featured Hugh Bonneville, 帕特里克·斯图尔特, Julie Walters and 米兰达·哈特. The money raised by the performance went towards Mousetrap Theatre Projects.[2]
During the Diamond Anniversary year of 'The Mousetrap', a touring production visited regional theatres for the first time in its history, whilst the London run continued uninterrupted.[14]
人物角色
- 莫莉•拉尔斯顿（Mollie Ralston）
- 蒙克斯威尔庄园（Monkswell）业主、贾尔斯的妻子。
- 贾尔斯•拉尔斯顿（Giles Ralston）
- 莫莉的丈夫，同妻子一道经营蒙克斯威尔庄园。
- 克里斯多弗•雷恩（Christopher Wren）
- 第一个抵达酒店的客人，雷恩是一个方式行事非常特殊并且过度活跃的年轻人。他承认他是在逃避些什么，但拒绝具体说明。Wren claims to have been named after the architect of the same name by his parents.
- 博伊尔太太（Mrs Boyle）
- 一个关键的老妇人，只在意自己关注的东西。
- 梅特卡夫少校（Major Metcalf）
- 只知道他从军队退役了。
- 凯思维尔小姐（Miss Casewell）
- 一个古怪、孤傲、阳刚的女人，能毫不介意地讲述她童年的可怕经历。
- 帕拉维奇尼先生（Mr Paravicini）
- 一个来路不明的人，突然造访并声称他的车翻在了雪堆中。 He appears to be affecting a foreign accent and artificially aged with make-up.
- 侦探特罗特警官（Detective Sergeant Trotter）
- 在剧中扮演侦探角色。他在暴风雪中赶来庄园并向业主和宾客们提问。
转折式结局以及保密传统
凶手的身份会在临近剧终时揭晓，in a twist ending which is unusual for playing with the very basis of the traditional whodunnit formula,[15] where the cliché is that the detective solves the crime and exposes the remaining plot secrets。按照惯例，在每场演出结束时，观众都被要求不向剧院以外的任何人透露凶手的身份，以确保未来观众对该剧的情节不会因剧透而失去兴趣。
阿加莎克里斯蒂向来不愿意她作品的情节在评论中被披露[16]。当2010年，继承版权的克里斯蒂之孙马修·普里查德从《獨立報》获悉《捕鼠器》的结局被在该剧在英文维基百科的条目中揭露时表示“十分沮丧”[17][18]。
情节
The play is set in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, in what Christie described as "the present".[19]
第一幕始于一个女人被谋杀，漆黑的舞台上只有声响发出而没有对白。之后舞台转移到蒙克斯威尔庄园——由一对年轻夫妇，茉莉和贾尔斯•拉尔斯顿经营的家庭旅馆。前四名客人，克里斯托弗·雷恩、博伊尔夫人、梅特卡夫少校和凯思维尔小姐依次抵达。Mrs. Boyle complains about everything, and Giles offers to cancel her stay, but she refuses the offer. They become snowed in together and read of the murder in the newspaper . An additional traveller, Mr. Paravicini, arrives stranded after he ran his car into a snowdrift, but he makes his hosts uneasy. In the next scene, the imposing Mrs. Boyle complains to the other guests, first to Metcalf and then to Miss Casewell, who both try to get away from her. Wren comes into the room claiming to have fled Mrs. Boyle in the library. Shortly afterwards, the police call on the phone, creating great alarm amongst the guests. Mrs. Boyle suggests that Mollie check Wren's references. Detective Sergeant Trotter arrives on skis to inform the group that he believes a murderer is at large and on his way to the hotel, following the death of Mrs Maureen Lyon in London. When Mrs Boyle is killed, they realise that the murderer is already there.
Act II opens ten minutes later, where the investigation is ongoing. Each character is scrutinised and suspected. Mollie and Giles get into a fight, and Chris Wren and Giles argue over who should protect Mollie. Suspicion falls first on Christopher Wren, an erratic young man who fits the description of the supposed murderer. However, it quickly transpires that the killer could be any one of the guests, or even the hosts themselves. The characters re-enact the second murder, trying to prevent a third.
最后，警长特罗特让大家都聚集在大厅计划为嫌疑人之一设置陷阱。
凶手的身份
The play builds towards a twist ending as Sergeant Trotter sends the other characters to different rooms to reenact one another's testimonies. After a while he calls Mollie Ralston into the room, and forces her to admit that she was a teacher at the school where the Corrigan children had gone, and that the youngest boy had written a letter to her before his death, one that she did not read until it was too late to act on it. Sergeant Trotter then reveals himself to be the eldest of the three Corrigan children, and that he has merely been posing as a policeman. He confesses to Mollie Ralston that he killed Maureen Lyon and Mrs Boyle in revenge for the death of his brother, who died of negligence when the brothers were in the foster care of Mrs Lyon. Trotter feels that Boyle could have prevented the death,[20][21] and blames Mrs Ralston for supposedly ignoring their letter. He intends to kill Ralston at the end of this confession, but is calmed down by Miss Casewell who reveals herself to be Trotter's older sister. As she takes Trotter away, Metcalf enters and reveals that he was the undercover policeman sent to track down the murderer, and suspected Trotter from the start when he also claimed to be a police officer. [19]
出版物历史
The play was published as a paperback by Samuel French Ltd as French's Acting Edition No. 153 in 1954 and is still in print. It was first published in hardback in The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1993 (ISBN 0-39-607631-9) and in the UK by 哈珀柯林斯 in 1993 (ISBN 0-00-224344-X).
电影版
In 1959 it was announced producer Edward Small, who had brought Witness for the Prosecution to the screen, was to make a film version of the play in co-production with Victor Saville for 聯美.[22] Tyrone Power and Maria Schell were named as leads.[23] However no film version resulted.
In 1960, the Bengali author Premendra Mitra directed a film Chupi Chupi Aashey, based on the radio play and short story. This uncredited adaptation is possibly the only notable film version of The Mousetrap.[來源請求]
In 1990, the 俄罗斯n director Samson Samsonov filmed at 莫斯科电影制片厂 a movie entitled "Мышеловка" ("Myshelovka", "The Mousetrap"). The script by Vladimir Basov Jr. is based on the Agatha Christie play.
脚注
注释
参考来源
- ^ 去伦敦西区必看的三大名作. 2009-07-20 [2014-08-17] （中文（中国大陆））.
《捕鼠器》（The Mousetrap）
- ^ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Marsden, Sam. Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap celebrates its 60th anniversary with star-studded show. The Daily Telegraph (London). 18 Nov 2012 [November 19, 2012].
- ^ 朱渊. 英国经典悬疑话剧《捕鼠器》明年上海演出. 2009-12-02 [2014-08-17].
- ^ Haining, Peter. Agatha Christie – Murder in Four Acts. (Page 23). Virgin Books, 1990. ISBN 1-85227-273-2
- ^ Saunders, Peter. The Mousetrap Man. (Page 118) Collins, 1972. ISBN 0-00-211538-7
- ^ Morgan, Janet. Agatha Christie, A Biography. (Page 291) Collins, 1984 ISBN 0-00-216330-6.
- ^ "Mousetrap Theatre Projects - History", Mousetrap Theatre Projects, March 15, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-01.
- ^ M. Carlson. Is there a real inspector Hound? Mousetraps, deathtraps, and the disappearing detective. Modern drama (Hakkert). 1993, 36 (3): 431–442. ISSN 0026-7694. doi:10.3138/md.36.3.431. INIST 24084, 35400002380674.0070.
- ^ Mousetrap website. The-mousetrap.co.uk. [2009-06-07] （英语）.
- ^ Bruce Pendergast. Everyman's Guide to the Mysteries of Agatha Christie. Trafford Publishing. 2004: 32,299. ISBN 978-1-4120-2304-7.
- ^ Antiques Trade Gazette, Issue 2003, 20 August 2001, page 14. Found with the telegram was a 女式内衣 bill from 1952 for £24.13s. 6d.
- ^ Entirely Up To You, Darling by Diana Hawkins & Richard Attenborough; page 180; paperback; Arrow Books; published 2009. isbn 978-0-099-50304-0
- ^ PR Newswire report of event. Prnewswire.co.uk. January 2001 [7 June 2009].
- ^ Masters, Tim. The Mousetrap to tour for 60th anniversary. BBC News (London). 25 Nov 2011 [December 13, 2013].
- ^ The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Christopher Booker. The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Continuum. : 15.
- ^ Leach, Ben. Agatha Christie’s family criticise Wikipedia for revealing Mousetrap ending. Daily Telegraph. 29 Aug 2010 [20 October 2010].
- ^ Bignell, Paul; Matthew Bell. Wikipedia springs 'Mousetrap' ending. The Independent. 17 September 2010 [4 November 2010].
- ^ Cohen, Noam. Spoiler Alert: Whodunit? Wikipedia Will Tell You. The New York Times. 17 September 2010 [29 June 2012].
- ^ 19.0 19.1 Christie, Agatha. The Mousetrap and Other Plays. Signet, 2000. ISBN 0-451-20114-0
- ^ Frank Northen Magill. The Mousetrap. Cyclopedia of literary characters II 3. Salem Press: 1052. 1990. ISBN 978-0-89356-520-6.
- ^ Bonnie A. Helms. 150 Great Books: Synopses, Quizzes, & Tests for Independent Reading. Walch Publishing. 1987: 358. ISBN 978-0-8251-0117-5.
- ^ ' BEN-HUR' TO RACE FOR 213 MINUTES: Film Will Be Third Longest Shown -- Small and Saville Planning 'Dear Spy' By RICHARD NASON. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 07 Oct 1959: 47.
- ^ Debbie Gets Chance For Real Dramatics Hopper, Hedda. The Washington Post and Times Herald (1954-1959) [Washington, D.C] 01 Nov 1958: D13.
扩展阅读
- B. Vogelsinger. New Voices: Blind Mice and a Motive – Studying Agatha Christie's the Mousetrap. English Journal. 2005, 95 (1): 113–5. JSTOR 30047411. doi:10.2307/30047411.
- Martha Morrow. Page and stage: a structural investigation of Agatha Christie's "Three Blind Mice" and "The Mousetrap". Eastern Illinois University. 1976.
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