The Mousetrap

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What do you know about Agatha Christie’s best-known works? Why might Christie’s work continue to circulate today?

Teaching Suggestion: Famous for creating unforgettable detectives (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple) and penning classic mystery novels (And Then There Were None, Death on the Nile), Agatha Christie is also the playwright of The Mousetrap, a work so enduringly popular that it set the world record for the longest continuous run before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of its home at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. Consider discussing Agatha Christie, her more popular works, and the impact of her novels and plays on society, then use the link to broaden student understanding of Agatha Christie.

• This article explores the life and works of Agatha Christie.

Short Activity

Reading a play such as The Mousetrap requires the audience to understand the vocabulary associated with drama and live performance. Use the following questions to draw conclusions about the purpose of each vocabulary term.

• What are stage directions? Why are stage directions important for understanding setting, body language, and implied meanings?
• How is a play usually formatted? What roles do acts and scenes play in the structure?
• What is an aside? How might it be used in production?
• What are the purposes of the terms enter and exit in stage directions?
• What is the fourth wall? How is it used in productions?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may find it beneficial to explore and record the purpose of vocabulary words used in plays to better understand the text. Consider creating an anchor chart to hang in the room where students can make educated guesses about the vocabulary’s intended purpose. Students may find it beneficial to refer to this chart as they read the play to make updates as they gain a new understanding of the words. Students may wish to add other vocabulary terms as the play progresses. Consider leaving space for additional terms.

• This dictionary website provides a list of theater terms and their meanings.
• This 7-minute video explores vocabulary terms used in theatrical productions.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the play.

Have you ever met a person, either in real life or in the world at large, that you just can’t figure out? How do people make sense of whom to trust and whom to doubt? Are you more suspicious of individuals you are unfamiliar with, or are you a more trusting person?

Teaching Suggestion: The Mousetrap is set in a manor, and all the guests arrive on the eve of a horrific murder that occurred in London, some 30 miles away. When Sergeant Trotter arrives to investigate, the guests become uneasy when they realize there is a murderer in their midst. Consider discussing the role of identity and secret pasts in the mystery genre.