AGATHA CHRISTIE’S
PRE-SHOW STUDY AND
ACTIVITY GUIDE
with alignments to the Common Core Curriculum Standards
Created by McCarter Theatre Education and Engagement. 2016.
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The activities outlined in this guide are designed to enrich your students’
educational experience by addressing many Reading, Writing, and Speaking
and Listening Common Core anchor standards. While these activities aren’t
necessary for students to understand or enjoy the show, their incorporation
into your performance preparation will give your students a deeper context for
considering and assessing the production and what it means to them.
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Reading Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap
In this section students will read a portion or the entirety of The Mousetrap and engage in conversation
about the play with their peers. This activity is aligned to the following core standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to
make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and
interact over the course of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how
specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational
texts independently and proficiently.
The Mousetrap In Context
In this section students will be tasked with researching the historical context of the world of the play as well
as biographical information on Agatha Christie. They will then organize and present their research. This
activity is aligned to the following core standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects
based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while
avoiding plagiarism.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support
analysis, reflection, and research
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and
publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Scene Study
In this section students will have the opportunity to read, discuss, and perform a scene from the play. The
activity is aligned to following core standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of
conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative
tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Continued on next page
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Scene Study (cont.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language
functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to
comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and
style of a text.
Podcast Play
In this section students will draw inspiration from The Mousetrap’s beginning as a radio play and
write, produce, and perform their own podcast play. The activity is aligned to the following
standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or
events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Learning the Language
In this section students familiarize themselves with the slang used in the play. The activity is aligned
to the following standards;
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.6 Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and
domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at
the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary
knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.
A Theatre Reviewer Prepares
In this section students learn how to prepare to be a professional audience member in anticipation of
writing a review after seeing The Mousetrap in performance. The activity is aligned to the following
standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive
topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex
ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and
analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research,
reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks,
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Reading Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap is one of Agatha Christie’s best known works. The play has been running in
London’s West End (England’s Broadway equivalent) since 1952. After seeing the play,
audience members are asked not to reveal the ending to anyone else in order to preserve the
mystery. While this may be important to you and your students, we hope you may still wish to
incorporate a reading of Act I into your pre-show preparation. We recommend utilizing the
Samuel French edition of the play (ISBN: 9780573702440).
The following questions are meant to stimulate conversation after a full or partial reading of
The Mousetrap

What struck you about the first act/the play The Mousetrap? Was there a particular
moment that stood out to you?

Did any of the characters leave a particular impression? Did you find any one
character to be more suspicious than the others? Who was it? Why?

Was there anything unique about the writing style? Did you observe anything in
Christie’s writing that distinguishes it from other authors with whom you’re
familiar? How does the writing style influence the overall tone of the piece?

What emotions did you experience during your reading of the play? Were you
amused? Scared? Surprised? Confused? Intrigued? Explain your response.

What were some themes that you discovered or noticed while reading? Themes
might include: the impact of childhood trauma on the survivor adult; the self one
projects/performs vs. one’s true self; lies and deception, the reasons behind why
people deceive others, and the ways they deceive; authorial deception and the
mystery writer.

If you only read ACT I, what predictions do you have for Act II or the resolution of
the play?
The Mousetrap In Context
To prepare your class for The Mousetrap and to deepen their knowledge and level of
understanding of the play’s world and its characters, its playwright, and her influences have
students research, either in groups or individually, the following topics:

Agatha Christie

Early Life

The Disappearance

Career Overview
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The Mousetrap In-Context (cont).

Works

Books

Plays

Honors

The Golden Age of Mystery Fiction

The Mousetrap


Original radio play

Short-story and title change

Record-holding West End run
Context

Overview of Life in Post-World War II England

Rationing

Social Class

Distinction between classes

Changing status of the classes
Scene Study
Getting a play’s characters up on their feet is an excellent way for students to personally
experience the playwright’s craft and explore the language and world of the play themselves
before experiencing it in performance. Have your students study the first scene from Agatha
Christie’s The Mousetrap. In small groups. An acting edition of the play was published by
Samuel French (ISBN: 9780573702440). The first scene is rather long so we suggest assigning
the following excerpts:

Beginning of Scene 1, the interaction between Mollie, Giles, and Wren. Starting
with Mollie’s line “Mrs. Barlow! Mrs. Barlow!” and ending with Giles’ line “How
thrilling.”

Middle of Scene 1, the interaction between Giles, Boyle, Mollie, Metcalf, and
Wren starting with Mrs. Boyle’s line “This is Monkswell Manor, I presume?” and
ending with Christopher Wren’s line “Oh!”

End of Scene 1, the interaction between Giles, Wren, Casewell, Mollie, and
Paravicini beginning with Giles line “Lord, there’s another of them.” and ending
with Paravicini’s line “Good. Monkswell Manor Guest House. Perfect. Perfect.”
Continued on next page
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Scene Study (cont.)

Before breaking into groups you may wish to read the entire scene out loud as a
class. You can use a “popcorn reading” style so that every student has a chance to
read as different characters.

Break the class into groups of 3 (excerpt 1), 5 (excerpt 2), and 5 (excerpt 3).

Allow groups time to read through the scene and try to stage it (introducing
movement and physicality to the scene) themselves. After this “rehearsal” period
students may wish to perform for their classmates. Have the scenes perform in the
order they appear in Scene 1 for continuity.

After the performance experience, lead your students in a discussion using the following questions:

What are the pleasures and challenges of performing your scene from
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap?

What insights, if any, regarding the play or the characters did you get from
staging the scene and playing the characters?

What about your character felt real and/or relatable to you in the acting of
him or her?

Was there any moment that felt strange or awkward in bringing your
character to life? Explain your reaction.

In the world of the scene, did any of the other characters make an interesting first
impression? Was anyone relatable? A little suspicious? Mean? How does this affect
your character’s attitude towards him or her?

Did you have any thoughts, revelations, or questions as an audience member that
you didn’t experience as a performer?
Podcast Play
Before it was a stage play, The Mousetrap was a radio play entitled Three Blind Mice. A radio play,
also known as radio drama, is a dramatization of a story conveyed to an audience via live radio
broadcast and/or recording. They achieved prominence in the United Kingdom between the 1930s
and 1960s. While the advent of television diminished the popularity of radio dramas, the form has
experienced a bit of renaissance by way of the podcast. To explore examples visit http://tunein.com/
radio/Drama-g201/
1. Have students select source material. Such as a novel you’ve read in class. Choose an
engaging or interesting part of the story that is rich with dialogue.
Continued on next page
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Podcast Play (cont.)
2. Instruct students to adapt their selection into a script for a podcast play. Ensure everyone
who wants a part has one. If someone doesn’t want to perform he or she may take on the
role of director, audio engineer, or sound/sound effects designer. Have them get creative!

When adapting dialogue students may want to add a sentence or change a word
in order to make it feel more natural when speaking or to help clarify storytelling.
This is fine—just remind them not to change the meaning, tone, or purpose of the
dialogue.

Novelists often put a great deal of effort into the thick description of the world of
their stories. You may want to discourage students from including long narrative
passages in their radio plays (narrative description is not typically dramatic).
Instead, challenge your students to use sound effects and music to set place and
tone, and to invoke the same feelings or environments created in the source text.
3. Instruct your students to rehearse what they’ve written. By reading their script while
another group member listens, they may discover gaps in the story or opportunities to
further develop the sound design.
4. Students should record their finished product. They can simply use phones to do so if they
don’t have access to voice recorders or microphones. They may wish to use programs like
Garage Band (Macs) or Audacity (Macs and PCs) in order to edit their recording.
5. At the end of the project, have each group share their recording with their classmates.
Then lead a discussion about the creation process as well as the experience as a listener.
Questions may include:

What were the joys and challenges of adapting your source text into a podcast
play?

Did you find it difficult to maintain the original tone of the text in your adaptation?
How did you ensure you maintained this?

What was it like playing the characters in your selected text? Did it lead to any
realizations you hadn’t previously had about the character or the work as a whole?

How was being an audience member in this capacity different from viewing a play,
movie, or TV show? Was it easier? Harder? Did you feel like you were engaging
your imagination more or less than you would have in a different medium?

Thinking of yourself as a storyteller, did you feel limited by only being able to use
your voice and sound to convey the plot and tone? Or do you feel it enhanced or
elevated the storytelling?

Are some genres of stories more or less suited to radio/podcast play treatment?
Explain your response and cite specific examples.
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Learning the Language
The Mousetrap is set in London in 1952. For this reason, the script is peppered with some unfamiliar
language. Distribute the accompanying glossary to your students and task them with finding
definitions for the various words. Once they’ve completed this task, challenge them to complete the
crossword puzzle also provided. The glossary and crossword puzzle can both be found in the
appendix.
A Theatre Reviewer Prepares
A theater critic or reviewer is essentially a “professional audience member,” whose job is to report
the news, in detail, of a play’s production and performance through active and descriptive language
for a target audience of readers (e.g., their peers, their community, or those interested in the Arts).
To prepare your students to write an accurate, insightful and compelling theater review following
their attendance at the performance of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap prime them for the task by
discussing in advance the three basic elements of a theatrical review: reportage, analysis and
judgment.

Reportage is concerned with the basic information of the production, or the
journalist’s “four w’s” (i.e., who, what, where, when), as well as the elements of production, which include the text, setting, costumes, lighting, sound, acting and directing (see the Theater Reviewer’s Checklist). When reporting upon these
observable phenomena of production, the reviewer’s approach should be factual,
descriptive and objective; any reference to quality or effectiveness should be
reserved for the analysis section of the review.

With analysis the theater reviewer segues into the realm of the subjective and
attempts to interpret the artistic choices made by the director and designers and
the effectiveness not of these choices; specific moments, ideas and images from
the production are considered in the analysis.

Judgment involves the reviewer’s opinion as to whether the director’s and
designers’ intentions were realized, and if their collaborative, artistic endeavor was
ultimately a worthwhile one. Theater reviewers always back up their opinions with
reasons, evidence and details. Remind your students that the goal of a
theater reviewer is “to see accurately, describe fully, think clearly, and then (and only
then) to judge fairly the merits of the work” (Thaiss and Davis, Writing for the Theatre, 1999). Proper analytical preparation before the show and active
listening and viewing during will result in the effective writing and crafting of their
reviews.
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Appendix
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The Mousetrap: Glossary
SCOTLAND YARD: _____________________________________________________________________
MUG: ______________________________________________________________________________
GUINEA: _____________________________________________________________________________
DOGSBODY: ___________________________________________________________________________
BOORISH: ____________________________________________________________________________
CHILBLAINS: __________________________________________________________________________
COKE: ________________________________________________________________________________
MEMSAHIB: ___________________________________________________________________________
MAGISTRATE: _________________________________________________________________________
SPIV: ________________________________________________________________________________
MUFFLER: ____________________________________________________________________________
BLUE MURDER: ________________________________________________________________________
PARLOUR GAME: _______________________________________________________________________
HUNT THE THIMBLE: ____________________________________________________________________
BARMY: ______________________________________________________________________________
MANOR HOUSE: _______________________________________________________________________
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Across
Down
2. someone who does grunt work or menial tasks
1. a term used in Colonial India to respectfully address a
European woman
3. She screamed _____.
4. another term for scarf
6. a petty criminal
9. a party game in which a thimble is hidden
10. fill inflammation of the hmds md feet caused by exposure to the
cold
11. British slang for fool, sucker, or chump
12. London theatre district wher,iThe Mousetrap has been
running since 1952
14. unmannered, crude
15. London police
16. slang for eccentric or crazy
17. Playwright of The Mousetrap
5. a type of British currency worth about 21 shillings
7. nursery rhyme title of the original radio play of The
Mousetrap
8. a large country home; the setting of The Mousetrap
10. coal for a fire
11. a judicial officer
13. a group game appropriate to be played inside