Matinee Friends

Fourteen Matinee Friends, the largest group so far this year, descended on the Performing Arts Center of Paradise Valley Community College on Sunday afternoon, April 16, to see Agatha Christie’s “Mousetrap”, the longest-running show of all time. The Mousetrap opens in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor. News on the radio is blaring about the murder of Maureen Lyon but Mollie and Giles Ralston, the young newlyweds and new owners of the estate, hardly pay attention. But when the couple and their guests become snowed in and the phone lines go down, they realize the murderer is on the loose in the guesthouse and they have no idea whodunnit. The play kept us guessing until the end, when the surprise twist revealed all. The actors were very believable in their roles, though the British accents made it difficult for some of us to understand just what they were saying. The set was perfect for the story, and the chill setting of the theater A/C made us feel we were actually trapped in by a blizzard.
We did enjoy the bargain price of $8 and the location not far from Moon Valley.