The Mousetrap Aylesbury

The Mousetrap Aylesbury tickets cover a single week in November, when Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery arrives at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre from Monday 9 to Saturday 14 November 2026. The 75th anniversary touring production plays evenings at 7.30pm, Monday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm matinees on Wednesday 11 and Saturday 14 November.

The Mousetrap Aylesbury: a Christie classic at the Waterside

Since it opened in 2010, the Waterside on Exchange Street has become the cultural hub of Buckinghamshire, drawing audiences from Thame, Tring, Wendover and the villages of the Vale. Its main house holds around 1,200 people over three levels, and the curved, modern auditorium puts even the back rows within comfortable reach of the stage. That matters for a play like this one, where a glance at a coat, a missing newspaper or a sudden silence can turn the whole evening. For a deeper look at the building itself, read our feature on Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.

Mid November suits Christie well. The clocks have gone back, the market town lights are going up, and a snowbound country house thriller feels perfectly timed for the first truly cold nights of the season. Aylesbury is also quietly Christie country in spirit: the Chilterns villages around it are full of the timbered inns and isolated manors her stories made famous.

What happens in The Mousetrap

Mollie and Giles Ralston have inherited a rambling house and turned it into a guesthouse. On their opening day, the radio reports a murder in London, and a blizzard cuts them off from the outside world. Their guests are an oddly assorted bunch, each a little too evasive. When a young police sergeant reaches the house on skis with news that the killer may be heading their way, the questions start, and nobody’s answers quite add up. As every programme reminds you, the ending is a secret that audiences have guarded since 1952.

Meet The Mousetrap tour cast in Aylesbury

Leading the company are Susan Penhaligon as the impossible to please Mrs Boyle and Nicholas Bailey, best known from EastEnders, as Major Metcalf. Penhaligon has played in the London production at St Martin’s Theatre, so she knows the play from the inside. Emily Laing and Jack Hardwick are Mollie and Giles Ralston, the young owners; Hardwick’s credits include The Play That Goes Wrong in the West End. Thomas Barrett plays Christopher Wren, Clare Duffy is Miss Casewell, James Peake is Mr Paravicini and Alfie Richards is Detective Sergeant Trotter. The understudies are Ben Gresswell, Sophie Lagden, Judith Rae and Darren Ruston. The director is Hannah Chissick.

Is The Mousetrap Aylesbury suitable for families

The producers recommend the show for ages 7 and over. There is a murder, a few jumps and a great deal of suspense, but no bad language or gore, which is why so many families choose it as a first grown up play. The Wednesday and Saturday matinees are the most popular choice for school age children, and the running time of about 2 hours 5 minutes, including a 20-minute interval, means an evening performance still finishes before 10pm.

A play that has outlived its own legend

Christie expected The Mousetrap to run for perhaps eight months. Seventy five years later it is the longest running play in the world, and our guide to the world’s longest running play explains how it got there, from the original cast led by Richard Attenborough to the tradition of keeping the solution secret. This touring production lets audiences in Buckinghamshire see that history without the trip into London, though the original still plays at The Mousetrap at St Martin’s Theatre.

Getting to Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

The theatre is about five minutes on foot from Aylesbury station, which has direct trains to London Marylebone, and is around 200 metres from the main bus station. Several town centre car parks are close by, including Waterside North. Restaurants and cafes cluster around the theatre and Friars Square, and the venue has its own bars. See our Aylesbury Waterside Theatre guide for seating plans and access information.

More Mousetrap tour dates near Aylesbury

Aylesbury comes between Sheffield and Eastbourne. If November does not work, the nearest later ATG stop is The Mousetrap in Milton Keynes in spring 2027, and the tour also visited The Mousetrap at Manchester Opera House in October. The full itinerary is on our Mousetrap UK and Ireland tour page.

The Mousetrap Aylesbury dates and times

The Mousetrap plays for one week, 9–14 November 2026: evenings at 7.30pm from Monday to Saturday, with 2.30pm matinees on Wednesday and Saturday. The running time is approximately 2 hours 5 minutes, including a 20-minute interval, and the show is recommended for ages 7 and over.