London lights II

Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap - over 23,000 performances and still going strong

As we searched for Chinatown, we walked past a number of theatres including this one - St Martin's Theatre. The Mousetrap has been performed over 23,000 times since it opened at the theatre in 1952.

The St Martin's Theatre, located in West Street, was designed by the architect W G R Spraque in 1913 as a companion to The New Ambassadors Theatre which is next door to the theatre. Although The New Ambassadors Theatre was completed and opened in 1913, the out break of the First World War put the building of The St Martin's Theatre 'on-hold' and it was not completed until three years later in 1916.

When The St Martin's did finally open on Thursday 23 November 1916 did was described as "a very cosy and distreet little place, all soft-coloured wood panelling and peacock-blue hangings, with no touch of gilding except on the lamp brackets." The warm polished wood interior remains down to today and is unique within London's West End theatres.

Text from http://www.stmartins-theatre.co.uk/index.htm