用戶:JuneAugust/The Mousetrap
| 捕鼠器 The Mousetrap | |
|---|---|
 2010年10月的倫敦聖馬丁劇院 | |
| 劇作家 | 阿加莎·克里斯蒂 |
| 角色 |
|
| 首演日期 | 1952年10月6日[註釋 1] |
| 首演地點 | 諾丁漢郡諾丁漢皇家劇院 |
| 原語言 | 英語 |
| 類型 | 偵探、犯罪 |
| 設定 | 「在現今」、冬季、一間賓館，蒙克斯威爾莊園（Monkswell） |
| 官方網站 | |
《捕鼠器》（The Mousetrap[註釋 2]）是英國小說家阿加莎·克里斯蒂創作的一部講述神秘謀殺案的舞台劇。自1952年在倫敦西區上演以來，《捕鼠器》一直在持續上演中。2012年11月18日，在迎來第25000場演出後，《捕鼠器》成為迄今為止持續公演時間最長的戲劇[2]，也是現代持續演出時間最長的演出節目（包括任何形式的）。該劇以其戲劇化的結局而著稱。在傳統上，觀眾被要求在離開劇院後保守秘密，不向外界透露該劇的「兇手是誰」[3]。
歷史[編輯]
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 什羅普郡 farmer and his wife in 1945.
The play is based on a 短篇小說, itself based on the radio play, but Christie asked that the story not be published as long as it ran as a play in the 西區 (倫敦).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 英國 but it has appeared in the 美國 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 第二次世界大戰.[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[編輯]
作為一部舞台劇，《捕鼠器》曾於1952年10月6日在諾丁漢皇家劇院舉行世界首演。它最初是由約翰和羅伊·博爾廷的哥哥，電影導演彼得·科茨執導。在1952年11月25日開始在倫敦的大使劇院上演之前，本劇曾在西區的牛津新劇院、曼徹斯特歌劇院、利物浦皇家宮廷劇院、紐卡斯爾皇家劇院、利茲大劇院以及伯明翰的亞歷山德拉劇院做過巡迴上演。演出直至1974年3月23日周六，之後轉入臨街場地更大的聖馬丁劇院，於周一的3月25日重新上演。該劇在倫敦運行現在已經累計超過25000場演出。[9]
克里斯蒂自己沒想到《捕鼠器》會持續公演如此之久。在她的自傳中，她提到曾在一次與彼得·桑德斯的交談中桑德斯提起「我打算給它（公演）14個月的時間」。然而克里斯蒂回答說：「它不會持續那麼久。也許只有八個月。是的，我覺得八個月。」[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 電報 from fellow playwright 諾埃爾·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場演出
- 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場演出成為倫敦西區演出最長紀錄保持者（前任保持者是《朱清周》）
- 1964年12月9日——第5000場演出
- 1976年12月17日——第10000場演出
- 2000年12月16日——第20000場演出
- 2002年11月25日——《捕鼠器》50周年慶典，女王伊利沙伯二世和愛丁堡公爵菲臘親王親臨現場[2]
- 2012年11月18日——第25000場演出
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 多倫多, 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·斯圖爾特, Julie Walters and 米蘭達·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[編輯]
- 莫莉•拉爾斯頓（Mollie Ralston）
- 蒙克斯威爾莊園（Monkswell）業主、賈爾斯的妻子。
- 賈爾斯•拉爾斯頓（Giles Ralston）
- 莫莉的丈夫，同妻子一道經營蒙克斯威爾莊園。
- 克里斯多弗•雷恩（Christopher Wren）
- 第一個抵達酒店的客人，雷恩是一個方式行事非常特殊並且過度活躍的年輕人。他承認他是在逃避些什麼，但拒絕具體說明。Wren claims to have been named after the architect of the same name by his parents.
- 博伊爾太太（Mrs Boyle）
- 一個關鍵的老婦人，只在意自己關注的東西。
- 梅特卡夫少校（Major Metcalf）
- 只知道他從軍隊退役了。
- 凱思維爾小姐（Miss Casewell）
- 一個古怪、孤傲、陽剛的女人，能毫不介意地講述她童年的可怕經歷。
- 帕拉維奇尼先生（Mr Paravicini）
- 一個來路不明的人，突然造訪並聲稱他的車翻在了雪堆中。 He appears to be affecting a foreign accent and artificially aged with make-up.
- 偵探特羅特警官（Detective Sergeant Trotter）
- 在劇中扮演偵探角色。他在暴風雪中趕來莊園並向業主和賓客們提問。
轉折式結局以及保密傳統[編輯]
兇手的身份會在臨近劇終時揭曉，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。按照慣例，在每場演出結束時，觀眾都被要求不向劇院以外的任何人透露兇手的身份，以確保未來觀眾對該劇的情節不會因劇透而失去興趣。
阿加莎克里斯蒂向來不願意她作品的情節在評論中被披露[16]。當2010年，繼承版權的克里斯蒂之孫馬修·普里查德從《獨立報》獲悉《捕鼠器》的結局被在該劇在英文維基百科的條目中揭露時表示「十分沮喪」[17][18]。
情節[編輯]
The play is set in the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, in what Christie described as "the present".[19]
第一幕始於一個女人被謀殺，漆黑的舞台上只有聲響發出而沒有對白。之後舞台轉移到蒙克斯威爾莊園——由一對年輕夫婦，茉莉和賈爾斯•拉爾斯頓經營的家庭旅館。前四名客人，克里斯托弗·雷恩、博伊爾夫人、梅特卡夫少校和凱思維爾小姐依次抵達。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.
最後，警長特羅特讓大家都聚集在大廳計劃為嫌疑人之一設置陷阱。
兇手的身份[編輯]
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]
出版物歷史[編輯]
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).
電影版[編輯]
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 俄羅斯n director Samson Samsonov filmed at 莫斯科電影製片廠 a movie entitled "Мышеловка" ("Myshelovka", "The Mousetrap"). The script by Vladimir Basov Jr. is based on the Agatha Christie play.
腳註[編輯]
註釋[編輯]
參考來源[編輯]
- ^ 去伦敦西区必看的三大名作. 2009-07-20 [2014-08-17] （中文（中國大陸））.
《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].
- ^ 朱淵. 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] （英語）.
- ^ 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 女式內衣 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.
擴展閱讀[編輯]
- 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.
外部連結[編輯]
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