The Mousetrap is Agatha Christie’s most successful play in that since its premier, at the Ambassador’s Theatre in London in 1952, it has never stopped running in London. It is the longest continuously running play of all time, and has become a tourist must-see when visiting London. It was originally written as a radio play, commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the 80^th birthday of Queen Mary, who was a fan of Christie’s. Christie accepted the honour and wrote a 20-minute radio play called “Three Blind Mice”. After that, Christie turned the play into a short story, while at the same time working on a stage version of the same plot. Christie had great hopes for the stage play, and she even suppres

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Published 19 January 2004

Citation: Lee, Amy. "The Mousetrap". The Literary Encyclopedia. 19 January 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9737, accessed 20 November 2009.]