The Mousetrap Review – Couple Portrait of Teenager Noel Coward | stage

HIt’s all other people – especially if you’re married to them. Noël Coward’s characters often struggle to fit their romantic and creative ambitions into conventional forms. This rarely seen marital comedy suggests that interest began early – Coward was only 18 when he completed it at the end of World War I, although it was first performed in 1926.

A century later, playwright Bill Rosenfeld and the enterprising Troup Theater Company reimagined the play—with simplified plot and florid dialogue. Two young writers, novelist Sheila and budding playwright Kjeld, embark on marriage in pursuit of domestic bliss and artistic success. Something has to give – and although she is the mastermind of the pair, it is Sheila who gives up her ambition to allow Keld to flourish.

Rosenfeld links the play to Ibsen (you might think A Doll’s House), while other observers mention Strindberg’s poignant marriage plays. These sombre stars suggest that The Rat Trap isn’t quite a comedy — Coward hasn’t yet developed his chrome-plated one-liners or predatory quips.

Sheila Lily Nicole starts out in eye-catching splendor. Her bohemian prints and elastic trousers (chic fashions by Libby Watson) create art deco curves between hip and shoulder. When trouble strikes paradise, it shrinks, stops, and stops taking up space – folded into politely compact folds. Its light is horrifying to watch, and Kirsty Patrick Ward’s production, which can’t lift the play’s bickering comedy, is tender in its misery.

Ewan Miller makes no secret of Keld’s self-esteem. He may be frilly-haired and boyish, but he’s also a bitch and a bully and abusive to the clever housekeeper (the excellent Angela Sims). He is a second-rate talent, unbearable even in humiliation.

The characters surrounding the central pair wonder what marriage means: Jenna Bramhill’s clever single or Zoe Gorelli’s girl, who arrives in a cloud of scent and spite. There is no template for love between the two artists, and the unexpected ending hardly lifts the spirits.

The band makes a strong case for Coward’s youthful efforts. “I think it will be interesting only as a play to students who are enthusiastic about my work,” he said, but although he later wrote more insightfully about intractable desires, he sharpened his claws on “The Rat Trap.”