My Review: 'The Mousetrap' at Hartford Stage -- Without a Clue.

The show: “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie. I mean “Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie at Hartford Stage.

What makes it special? Did I mention Agatha Christie? And this is the first time the play — which has been running in the West End since the reign of Henry VIII — was presented here.. Making it more special is that this is one Christie mystery that is not been overexposed and that’s because no film adaptation can be produced until the West End production has been closed for at least six months. Bloody unlikely that.

What is it?: Typical single setting murder whodunit with a twist ending that in this production can be spotted a mile away. The floorboards aren’t the only thing creaking here.

So this essentially a drawing room mystery where all the suspects are gathered at the end to have the murderer revealed?: Yep. Except it’s a remote English lodge during a snowstorm. But you’ve got the right idea.

What’s it about?: A young couple Mollie and Giles Ralston (Sam Morales and Tobias Legal) run a converted manor guesthouse and in the middle of a snowstorm six people arrive, four of them guests.

The expected guests are: a nervous, eccentric young man Christopher Wren (Christopher Geary); Mrs.Boyle (Yvette Ganier), a demanding and critical older woman; an amiable retired Major Metcalf (Greg Stuhr); Miss Casewell, (Ali Skamangas), a strange “masculine looking” woman who makes fleeting reference to a childhood trauma. Hmmmm. Two unexpected guests arrive as we learn the manor has been snowed in: Mr Paravicini , (Jason O’Connell), a suspicious dandy who speaks in an exaggerated accent, arrives saying his car overturned into a snowdrift and needs shelter; the other is Sergeant Trotter, (Brendan Dalton) arriving on skis, who heads to the manor after investigating a murder nearby — details we hear from a radio bulletin.

The murdered woman, with her now-deceased husband, mistreated their three foster children, resulting in the death of the youngest. Soon there is another person murdered at the guest house and the race is on to figure out who is going to be the next victim — and who the murderer is.

Whodunit?: I’m not going to tell but I’m sure you’ll figure it out before the reveal. (Audience members are asked to be mum about the killer so as not to ruin it for others.)

And what did you think of the production?": Tom Stoppard's 1968 play “The Real Inspector Hound” parodies the template of “The Mousetrap,” including the surprise ending. That’s a far more interesting — and shorter — piece of theatre than this long slog of a production at 2 1/2 hours. (Even Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt” now on Broadway and which chronicles two Jewish families over a half century was shorter. )

But you digress. What drove me mad was the confusing acting styles, which were all over the place and changed from moment to moment. I’m still not sure if this play was meant to be a Carol Burnett-style parody or not. It sure wasn’t meant to be taken as real with most of there cast not playing their parts with a genuine bone in their bodies. (Greg Stuhr seemed strike the right tone in the role as the Major but for the others, not so much.)

But aren’t these mysteries mean to be “fun?”: You can be a bit playful but it has to be grounded in some sort of reality but when the acting is way over the top — or pure ham — or simply unfocused without a clue how to play their character, then it’s just bad.

It reminds me of Noel Coward plays that many think are so easy to play but few actors — and especially American actors — do it well. It’s trickier to play than it looks. Same goes here.

But you digress again: Ok. Back to this production. Here even the set seemed off. The choice was made to play in the enormity of Hartford Stage’s gargantuan space so it took the actors seemingly forever to do a simple cross. (And were those trees leaning at 90 degree angles towards the house? Quick call an arborist! Stacks of books on the floor? No wonder Mrs. Boyle was appalled.) And what were those long pauses between scenes when nothing happened at all when the audience was left to simply stare at the set. Was this supposed to be suspenseful? Only if you thought someone missed their cue. Oh, and the underscoring music ranged from faux creepy to jokey (Were those hollowed coconuts being used as dopey percussive sounds? Afraid so.)

Who will like it? Most people will probably like it well enough because it’s Agatha Christie, because middle-brow mysteries aren’t often done on stage, and because they know the theater is hurting and this seemed to be a way to attract a broad base of theatergoers..

Who won’t?: Others who expect more from non-profit regional theaters. Desperate times call for desperate measures — but not desperate productions.

For the kids?: Nothing naughty.But If the tykes can follow the off-stage plot points and sustain the 2 1/2 hours running time, I salute them.

Thoughts on leaving the peaking lot: I’m sympathetic to the financial needs of the non-profit theaters to attract audiences and to fill the till . No mystery there. But really. This was exactly the type of play that the commercial theater was doing that motivated the American regional theatre movement in the first place. Perhaps another movement is called for…