The 70s Mousetrap

On a summer evening in Gurgaon,five members of Stagedoor Theatre Company were animatedly rehearsing the dialogues for their latest play Murder,which will be performed at ITC Maurya on Sunday evening. “I haven’t rehearsed the last scene because I don’t want you to know how the play ends,” says Aamir Hussain,the Creative Director of Stagedoor. We’re more than delighted to watch them rehearse,as they sit in a circle,effortlessly replaying the scenes like it were an evening conversation over a cup of tea.

The two-hour-long play is originally written by English playwright Peter Summers,and is a densely layered narrative about a writer who conspires to kill his wife with his homosexual partner. “If Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap was the thriller of the 50s,and Slueth was the thriller of the 60s,Murder is the thriller of the 70s,” says Hussain,and his cast nods. They’ve travelled with the play to places such as Bangalore,Hyderabad and Chennai and are finally ending their season with two shows in Delhi. “Bangalore,Chennai and other metro cities have baked audiences. The audience in Delhi and Bombay are also quite critical. Whereas,in smaller cities we can experiment with ideas,” he says. Their first show was in Kochi last year. Hussain talks about how comfort level with his cast plays a huge role in maintaining interest. The team selected Murder in a democratic,sit-down process last year,and we can sense the level of excitement for this performance. “The audiences of Delhi have seen our bigger shows,Legend of Ram and Kargil. Their expectations are high. But that is where the fun is,” says Hussain.

The play will be performed at ITC Maurya at 4pm and 7pm on May 26. Contact: 26112233