Television star Susan Penhaligon (Bouquet of Barbed Wire, A Fine Romance, Emmerdale) will join the cast of Agatha Christie’s legendary whodunnit as Mrs Boyle this summer as it continues on a major UK tour. Susan Penhaligon will take over the role from Gwyneth Strong (Only Fools and Horses) from 15 July at Malvern Festival Theatre through to and including Birmingham Alexandra Theatre until 16 November 2019. Directed by Gareth Armstrong, the timeless thriller returned to the road by popular demand in January 2019 and has been earning standout reviews from critics and public alike as it continues to visit more than 40 venues, travelling the length and breadth of the country.

The Mousetrap has been delighting audiences for 67 years and the identity of the murderer remains theatre’s best kept secret. This is the second major national tour of the smash hit murder mystery following a record-breaking 60th anniversary debut in 2012.

Susan Penhaligon (Mrs Boyle) is well-known for her role in the ITV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire, and for playing Helen Barker in the ITV sitcom A Fine Romance. She also played Jean Hope in UK soap Emmerdale. She has toured the UK extensively with stage productions including The Importance of being Earnest, Cabaret, Rehearsal for Murder, And Then There Were None, The Constant Wife, Verdict and Dangerous Obsessions. Stage credits also include Caste (Finborough Theatre), Murder on Air (Theatre Royal Windsor), Broken Glass (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Compliant Love (Palace Theatre) and The Cherry Orchard (Royal Exchange). Susan has also appeared on film in Top Dog, Citizen Versus Kane, Say that You Love Me, Say Hello to Yesterday and Private Road.

The full cast includes David Alcock (Mr Paravicini), Geoff Arnold (Detective Sgt. Trotter), Nick Biadon (Giles Ralston), Lewis Chandler (Christopher Wren), John Griffiths (Major Metcalf), Harriett Hare (Mollie Ralston) and Saskia Vaigncourt-Strallen (Miss Casewell).

The Mousetrap is playing at Coventry Belgrade Theatre this week with Gwyneth Strong scheduled to continue in the role of Mrs Boyle in the following venues: Crawley Hawth, Darlington Hippodrome, Exeter Northcott, Salford Lowry, York Grand Opera House, Edinburgh Playhouse, Liverpool Empire, Southend Palace, Nottingham Theatre Royal, Bristol Hippodrome, Stoke Regent, Brighton Theatre Royal and Norwich Theatre Royal. Susan Penhaligon is scheduled to perform from 15 July at Malvern Festival followed by Blackpool Grand, Barnstaple Queens, Bournemouth Pavilion, Llandudno Venue Cymru, Milton Keynes, Woking New Victoria, Torquay Princess, Dartford Orchard, Eastbourne Devonshire Park, Cardiff New Theatre, Chesterfield Pomegranate, Portsmouth Kings, Windsor Theatre Royal, Glasgow Theatre Royal, Peterborough New Theatre and Birmingham Alexandra. Further venues to be announced in due course.

First seen in Nottingham in 1952 starring Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim, The Mousetrap went on to become the world’s longest running stage production following its West End transfer to The Ambassadors in 1952 and St Martins in 1973 where it has played ever since, continuing a record-breaking run with over 27,500 performances in London so far. The beloved murder mystery returns to the road following the success of the first ever UK tour in 2012.

The Mousetrap continues its open-ended run at St. Martin’s Theatre, London.


BIOGRAPHIES

Mrs Boyle

Susan Penhaligon was brought up in Cornwall and trained at the Webber Douglas Academy in London. Her first appearance in the theatre was playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing and since then she has worked extensively in theatre, film and television.

Her early TV credits include Upstairs Downstairs, Tales of the Unexpected, Bergerac, Remmington Steele, Casualty, Inspector Wycliffe and Doctor Who. She played Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew for the BBC’s Shakespeare season and Frank Finlay’s spoilt daughter Prue, in the hugely successful A Bouquet of Barbed Wire. Other leading parts were in Fay Weldon’s Heart of the Country and in Stan Barstow’s A Kind of Loving. She played Lucy in Dracula for the BBC and Judi Dench’s sister Helen in four series of the award-winning sitcom, A Fine Romance. She has also appeared most recently in Casualty, Doctors, as regular Jean Hope in Emmerdale and as Joan in The Dead Room, written and directed by Mark Gatiss.

Her West End credits include, Three Sisters, (Albery Theatre), The Real Thing (The Strand Theatre) The Mysterious Mr Love and The Maintenance Man both at the Comedy Theatre, Dangerous Corner (The Whitehall Theatre) and Of Mice and Men (The Mermaid Theatre).

Other Theatre: Caste, Martine. & Hindle Wakes (all at the Finborough Theatre); Louise Brooks in American Venus (So & So Arts Club), Keeping up with The Joans (Edinburgh Fringe), The Complacent Lover, A Doll’s House (The Palace Theatre, Watford), Time and the Conway's, Lower Depths and The Cherry Orchard (Royal Exchange), Broken Glass (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Romeo and Juliet (Jermyn Street Theatre) Prophecy (The New End Theatre) Abducting Diana (Edinburgh Festival) & Misery (King’s Head Theatre).

Touring credits include: Handbagged, The Importance of Being Earnest, Cabaret, Rehearsal for Murder, And Then There Were None, All Creatures Great & Small, Having a Ball, Bedroom Farce, The Constant wife, Mrs Warren’s Profession, Death Trap, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, The Madness of George III, Verdict, & The Unexpected Guest.

Her films include leading roles in, The Uncanny, The Land that Time Forgot, No Sex Please We’re British, Leopard in the Snow, Nasty Habits, Patrick, Soldier of the Queen and Private Road and most recently two short films, Citizen versus Kane, Say you Love Me and Top Dog (directed by Martin Kemp).

Susan also published her first novel, For the Love of Angel (Truran Books) a story set in Cornwall in the 1880’s and co-authored with Sara Kestelman, an anthology of original poetry, A Two Hander.

Twitter: @susanpenhaligon

Director

Gareth Armstrong has worked across the world as both a director and actor. He was an Artistic Director of Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre where he directed classics including Shakespeare, Shaw and Chekov and modern works from Coward to Stoppard. He is a founding director of the Made in Wales Stage Company and previously an Associate Artist Director at the Salisbury Playhouse. Gareth most recently directed Hugh Whitemore’s Sand in the Sandwiches seen in the West End and on UK tour. He has written and performed his own solo play, Shylock, which premiered at the Salisbury Playhouse and toured internationally for ten years.

Mr Paravicini

David Alcock is the recipient of the South African Fleur du Cap and Vita Life theatre awards. He has performed in many productions at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton, including Waiting for Godot, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and Our Country's Good. His stage credits also include The Taming of the Shrew (Bristol Old Vic) and Kiss Me Kate (Pitlochry Festival Theatre). His touring credits include Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and South Pacific.

Detective Sgt. Trotter

Geoff Arnold’s theatre credits include Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Theatre), Catch 22 (Northern Stage UK Tour), Mansfield Park (Theatre Royal) and Molly (Pleasance Courtyard). He has also appeared on screen in Cold Blow Lane.

Giles Ralston

Nick Biadon most recently performed in the UK tour of Still Alice. His stage credits including Macbeth (Catford Broadway), ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Tristan Bates) and The Bacchae (Lazarus Theatre).

Christopher Wren

Lewis Chandler is delighted to be making his UK tour debut with The Mousetrap. His previous theatre credits include Foul Pages (Hope Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Creation Theatre) and The Devil is an Ass (Mercurius Theatre). Lewis played the title character in Film Noir parody Trimble which was nominated for a BBC Audio Drama Award.

Major Metcalf

John Griffiths’ West End theatre credits include The Sound of Music (London Palladium), The Woman in White (Palace Theatre), The Royal Family (Haymarket), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s) and Oliver! (Aldwych). He has also appeared in the national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well as Volpone at the National Theatre and The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kiss Me Kate and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

Mollie Ralston

Harriett Hare has performed on stage in The White Carnation (Finborough & Jermyn Street Theatre), Look Back in Anger (Reading Rep Theatre Company), Body Language (Suffolk Summer Theatre) and All Creatures Great and Small (UK tour). Harriett has also voiced for gaming and animation franchises and international campaigns for well-known brands.

Miss Casewell

Saskia Vaigncourt-Strallen has performed on stage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lazarus Theatre Company), All the Angels (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Southwark Playhouse), Scrooge (London Palladium) and the national tour of Oklahoma!. She also appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.


TOUR DATES

Monday 8 – Saturday 13 April 2019
BELGRADE THEATRE, COVENTRY
www.belgrade.co.uk
024 7655 3055

Monday 22 – Saturday 27 April 2019
HAWTH THEATRE, CRAWLEY
www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/The-Hawth
01293 553636

Monday 29 April – Saturday 4 May 2019
DARLINGTON HIPPODROME
www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk
01325 405405

Monday 6 – Saturday 11 May 2019
NORTHCOTT THEATRE, EXETER
https://exeternorthcott.co.uk
01392 72 63 63

Monday 13 – Saturday 18 May 2019
LOWRY THEATRE, SALFORD
www.thelowry.com
0843 208 6000

Monday 20 – Saturday 25 May 2019
GRAND OPERA HOUSE, YORK
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/grand-opera-house-york
0844 871 3024

Monday 27 – Wednesday 29 May 2019
EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE
www.atgtickets.com/venues/edinburgh-playhouse
0844 871 3014

Thursday 30 May – Saturday 1 June 2019
LIVERPOOL EMPIRE
www.atgtickets.com/venues/liverpool-empire
0844 871 3017

Monday 3 – Saturday 8 June 2019
SOUTHEND PALACE THEATRE
www.palacetheatresouthend.co.uk
01702 351135

Monday 17 – Saturday 22 June 2019
NOTTINGHAM THEATRE ROYAL
https://trch.co.uk
0115 989 5555

Monday 24 – Wednesday 26 June 2019
BRISTOL HIPPODROME
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/bristol-hippodrome/
0844 871 3012

Thursday 27 – Saturday 29 June 2019
STOKE REGENT THEATRE
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/regent-theatre/
0844 871 7649

Monday 1 – Saturday 6 July 2019
BRIGHTON THEATRE ROYAL
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-brighton/
0844 871 7650

Monday 8 – Saturday 13 July 2019
NORWICH THEATRE ROYAL
www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk/
01603 630 000

Monday 15 – Saturday 20 July 2019
FESTIVAL THEATRE, MALVERN
https://www.malvern-theatres.co.uk/
01684 892 277

Monday 22 – Saturday 27 July 2019
BLACKPOOL GRAND
https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/
01253 290 190

Monday 29 July - Saturday 3 August 2019
BARNSTAPLE QUEENS THEATRE
www.queenstheatre-barnstaple.com
01271 316 523

Monday 5 – Saturday 10 August 2019
BOURNEMOUTH PAVILION
http://www.bournemouthpavilion.co.uk/
0844 576 3000

Monday 12 August – Saturday 17 August
VENUE CYMRU, LLANDUDNO
www.venuecymru.co.uk
01492 872000

Monday 19 – Saturday 24 August 2019
MILTON KEYNES THEATRE
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/
0844 871 7652

Monday 2 – Saturday 7 September 2019
WOKING NEW VICTORIA THEATRE
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-mousetrap/new-victoria-theatre/
0844 871 7645

Monday 9 – Saturday 14 September 2019
PRINCESSS THEATRE TORQUAY
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-mousetrap/princess-theatre-torquay/
0844 871 3023

Monday 16 – Saturday 21 September 2019
DARTFORD ORCHARD THEATRE
https://orchardtheatre.co.uk/
01322 220 000

Monday 23 – Saturday 28 September 2019
EASTBOURNE DEVONSHIRE PARK THEATRE
https://www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk/venue/devonshire-park-theatre
01323 412 000

Monday 30 September – Saturday 5 October 2019
NEW THEATRE, CARDIFF
www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/
02920 878 889

Monday 7 – Saturday 12 October 2019
POMEGRANATE THEATRE, CHESTERFIELD
https://www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk/
01246 345 222

Monday 14 - Saturday 19 October 2019
KINGS THEATRE, PORTSMOUTH
https://kingsportsmouth.co.uk/
023 9282 8282

Monday 21- Saturday 26 October 2019
WINDSOR THEATRE ROYAL
www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
01753 853 888

Monday 28 October – Saturday 2 November 2019
GLASGOW THEATRE ROYAL
https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-glasgow/
0844 871 7647

Monday 4 - Saturday 9 November 2019
NEW THEATRE, PETERBOROUGH
www.newtheatre-peterborough.com/
01733 852 992

Monday 11 - Saturday 16 November 2019
THE ALEXANDRA THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM
www.atgtickets.com/venues/alexandra-theatre-birmingham
0844 871 3011

FURTHER VENUES FOR 2020 TO BE ANNOUNCED

West End:

THE MOUSETRAP
St Martin’s Theatre
West St, London WC2H 9NZ
www.the-mousetrap.co.uk
Box office 020 7836 1443

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