These are a few of my favourite things
The mousetrap
Recentemente, em conversas distintas, num espaço de 24 horas, dei comigo a falar com dois Portugueses meus amigos que vivem em Londres. A conversa desenvolveu-se até que surgiu este tema: " The Mousetrap". Nenhum deles tinha ouvido falar de tal assunto. Não fiquei surpreendido porque só em 2002, e por mero acaso, é que dei com esta ratoeira. No entanto, "The Mousetrap" é a peça mais bem sucedida de sempre. O excerto do texto que a seguir transcrevo faz parte do programa à venda no St Martins's Theatre e foi escrito por Sir Peter Saunders, o primeiro produtor desta peça em 1952.
" When the late Queen Mary was approaching her eightieth birthday she was asked by the BBC what she would like to celebrate the event - anything from Shakespeare to opera. Queen Mary said she would like " an Agatha Christie play" and Mrs. Christie promptly wrote a thirty-minute radio production called Three Blind Mice. This was eventually to become THE MOUSETRAP.
It was some years later when Agatha Christie asked me to lunch with her. Over the cofee she handed me a brown paper parcel and said, "This is a little present for you". The present was the script of THE MOUSETRAP and the one person who made no money out of it was the authoress herself. She had left it in trust for her seven-year-old grandson and all her royalties went to him.
When THE MOUSETRAP opened on the 25th November 1952, Sir Winston Churchill was Prime Minister, Harry S. Truman was President of the USA and Stalin was Head of Russia. Meat, bacon, sugar, cheese, butter and margarine were still rationed. And every man and woman in the country had to have an Identity Card.
In its 49 years in the West end of London THE MOUSETRAP has been seen by more than ten million people and if all these people stood in a line the queue would reach ( assuming they could walk on water!) to Nairobi. The play has been performed in 44 other countries throughout the world and has been translated in 24 languages and in the West End of London alone takings have exceeded 31,000,000 pounds.
In the West End 332 actors and actresses have appeared in the play and 167 understudies. 98 miles of shirts have been ironed and more than 380 tons of ice creams sold.(...)"
Parece que entretanto os números das estatística aumentaram, a peça fez 50 anos que estava em cena e entrou no Guiness Book of Records (onde aliás já figurava). Além de toda a história que rodeia a peça, "The Mousetrap" é, (pois que logicamente, como diria o nosso amigo Figo) uma história em si mesma. E vale a pena conhece-la, ou não tivesse saído da cabeça de Dame Agatha Christie.
A propósito desta Dame of the Order of the British Empire, Sir Peter Saunders conta uma boa história; "(...) Typical of her modesty is when one year she took all the major awards at a local flower and vegetable show. Asked the secret of her success, she replied, "My gardener"(...)".
" When the late Queen Mary was approaching her eightieth birthday she was asked by the BBC what she would like to celebrate the event - anything from Shakespeare to opera. Queen Mary said she would like " an Agatha Christie play" and Mrs. Christie promptly wrote a thirty-minute radio production called Three Blind Mice. This was eventually to become THE MOUSETRAP.
It was some years later when Agatha Christie asked me to lunch with her. Over the cofee she handed me a brown paper parcel and said, "This is a little present for you". The present was the script of THE MOUSETRAP and the one person who made no money out of it was the authoress herself. She had left it in trust for her seven-year-old grandson and all her royalties went to him.
When THE MOUSETRAP opened on the 25th November 1952, Sir Winston Churchill was Prime Minister, Harry S. Truman was President of the USA and Stalin was Head of Russia. Meat, bacon, sugar, cheese, butter and margarine were still rationed. And every man and woman in the country had to have an Identity Card.
In its 49 years in the West end of London THE MOUSETRAP has been seen by more than ten million people and if all these people stood in a line the queue would reach ( assuming they could walk on water!) to Nairobi. The play has been performed in 44 other countries throughout the world and has been translated in 24 languages and in the West End of London alone takings have exceeded 31,000,000 pounds.
In the West End 332 actors and actresses have appeared in the play and 167 understudies. 98 miles of shirts have been ironed and more than 380 tons of ice creams sold.(...)"
Parece que entretanto os números das estatística aumentaram, a peça fez 50 anos que estava em cena e entrou no Guiness Book of Records (onde aliás já figurava). Além de toda a história que rodeia a peça, "The Mousetrap" é, (pois que logicamente, como diria o nosso amigo Figo) uma história em si mesma. E vale a pena conhece-la, ou não tivesse saído da cabeça de Dame Agatha Christie.
A propósito desta Dame of the Order of the British Empire, Sir Peter Saunders conta uma boa história; "(...) Typical of her modesty is when one year she took all the major awards at a local flower and vegetable show. Asked the secret of her success, she replied, "My gardener"(...)".
posted by chichisbeu at 5:09 da tarde
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