{"id":361159,"date":"2024-11-02T19:17:52","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T23:17:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=361159"},"modified":"2024-11-02T19:17:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-02T23:17:52","slug":"upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/","title":{"rendered":"Upstage Artists sets a tried-and-true ‘Mousetrap’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The acting in Upstage Artists\u2019 Agatha Christie mystery The Mousetrap<\/em> is on target. Ayika Tshimanga, Sofia Sandoval, Zac Coates, James-Curtis Brown, and DMV acting newcomer KMG Bey Abdelrahimel worked hard on their British accents and maintained them throughout the play. Veteran actor Marc Rehr maintained a fine European accent of unknown origin.<\/p>\n

More than accents, the actors demonstrated comic timing, luring drama, and secrecy, while moving the well-known tale from scene to scene and keeping viewers entertained.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ayika Tshimanga as Mollie Ralston, Zac Coates as Det. Sgt. Trotter,z James-Curtis Bowers as Christopher Wren, and KMG Bey Abdelrahimel as Mrs. Boyle in \u2018The Mousetrap.\u2019 Photos courtesy of Upstage Artists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The play is your regular \u201cwhodunit\u201d mystery. Eight people are snowed in at a guest house: Mollie (Tshimanga) and Giles Ralston (Christopher Ferrar), the owners; four invited guests, each with eccentric characteristics; an unexpected guest, who arrives out of the blue after his car overturns the snowstorm; and finally a skiing detective. Once everyone has arrived, it is not long before a murder happens, and the detective interrogates the guests. Each avoids the truth, some by silence and others by lies.<\/p>\n

The characters are, despite their affected behavior, vivid, and they interact with morbid amusement. Four core performances come from Tshimanga, Coates, Bowers, and Abdelrahimel, who anchor the show in actual behavior and insecurity to allow the plot to move forward.<\/p>\n

Tshimanga\u2019s Mollie is a soft-hearted touch, a trusting emotional roller-coaster hiding a truth from herself and all around her. Brown renamed himself Christopher Wren in order to stop children from making fun of him. He is quick with a joke but emotionally scared. Wren also thinks everyone is out to get him, and he might be right. Finally, Abdelrahimel steals a few scenes as the critical, curmudgeonly Mrs. Boyle.<\/p>\n

Coates is new to the stage, but Director Michael Safko worked with him to bring life to Det. Sgt. Trotter. Trotter adds a thought-provoking \u201ctrust no one\u201d psychodrama twist to the plot that brings the audience to a logical finale, assuming Christie ever wrote one. Rehr\u2019s Mr. Paravicini has already hinted about how little Mollie knows about her guests and suggested in the future she do more thorough background checks. \u201cAfter all, any one of them, or even I, could be a murderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Safko\u2019s tried-and-true direction of The Mousetrap<\/em> kept its characters as close to their world-famous contemporaries as possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"
KMG Bey Abdelrahimel as Mrs. Boyle, Christopher Farrar as Giles Ralston, Zac Coates as Det. Sgt. Trotter, Ayika Tshimanga as Mollie Ralston, Marc Rehr as Mr. Paravacini, James Curtis Bowers as Christopher Wren, and Peter Rouleau as Major Metcalf in \u2018The Mousetrap.\u2019 Photo courtesy of Upstage Artists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The set is a low-budget affair. It features a large room with a fireplace with an all-important radio on the mantle, a chair characters clash over, and a couch with tables at the head and foot. The table center right has a telephone on it. Upstage establishes a curtain with door cutouts on either side of the center, and an exit back left. Stage Manager Rick Bergmann did the best with what he had. However, a black floor-length curtain behind each door would have helped.<\/p>\n

The stage, in the basement of a church, is intimate, as the front-row seats are practically on stage.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Two hours with a 15-minute intermission.<\/p>\n

The Mousetrap<\/a><\/strong><\/em> plays through November 10, 2024, presented by UpStage Artists performing at Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 11416 Cedar Lane, Beltsville, MD. Purchase tickets ($10) online.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

COVID Safety: <\/b>Masks are recommended, not mandatory.<\/p>\n

The Mousetrap
\n<\/strong><\/em>By Agatha Christie
\nDirected by Michael Safko<\/p>\n

CAST
\nChristopher Farrar as Giles Ralston
\nAyika Tshimanga as Mollie Ralston
\nJames-Curtis Bowers as Christopher Wren
\nKMG Bey Abdelrahimel as Mrs. Boyle
\nPeter Rouleau as Major Metcalf
\nSofia Sandoval as Miss Casewell
\nMarc Rehr as Mr. Paravicini
\nZac Coates as Det. Sgt. Trotter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On-target acting keeps the Agatha Christie whodunit entertaining. By ANDY ARNOLD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":361164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[905,1637],"class_list":{"0":"post-361159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-theater","8":"tag-agatha-christie","9":"tag-michael-safko"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nUpstage Artists sets a tried-and-true 'Mousetrap' - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On-target acting keeps the Agatha Christie whodunit entertaining.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Upstage Artists sets a tried-and-true 'Mousetrap'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On-target acting keeps the Agatha Christie whodunit entertaining.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DC Theater Arts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-02T23:17:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Mousetrap-4-800x600-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Arnold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Arnold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/\",\"name\":\"Upstage Artists sets a tried-and-true 'Mousetrap' - DC Theater Arts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Mousetrap-4-800x600-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-02T23:17:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/#\/schema\/person\/e8f1d66a469e0ffb3cfefc438a3b8f41\"},\"description\":\"On-target acting keeps the Agatha Christie whodunit entertaining.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/02\/upstage-artists-sets-a-tried-and-true-mousetrap\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Mousetrap-4-800x600-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Mousetrap-4-800x600-1.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Ayika Tshimanga as Mollie Ralston, Zac Coates as Det. 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