Between them they boast decades of theatre and film experience. But when a host of stage talent including Sir Patrick Stewart, Hugh Bonneville and Miranda Hart united for a special performance of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, they admitted their performance was almost scuppered by a fit of giggles.
Julie Walters, Tamsin Greig, Iain Glen, Nicholas Farrell and Harry Lloyd made up the rest of the cast for the gala production last night, which marked The Mousetrap’s 25,000th performance in its 60th year.
Greig, 46, said: “I got quite afraid this afternoon because everything that everybody did made me die laughing. The brother and sister scene, in particular, is very moving.”
Hart, 39, said: “We thought we were doing our best work in that scene, but I looked over at her and she was cracking up.”
The actors had just 24 hours to prepare and revealed they had their first rehearsal together at 3pm yesterday — three hours before the curtain rose at St Martin’s Theatre in the West End.
Sir Patrick said: “Some people couldn’t make it yesterday, some people couldn’t make it this morning. So 3pm this afternoon was the first time we did it together”.
Earlier the cast unveiled a memorial celebrating novelist Christie.
Her play opened in the West End in 1952 and holds the world record for the longest-running show.
