Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, the world's longest running play, is to reopen in the West End on 23 October using ‘social distancing’ in accordance with Government guidelines.
Having played in London since 1952, the production had to be suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic but may now be the first theatre to open its doors again, at least in the West End.
Producer Adam Spiegel said, "for the vast majority of West End productions, social distancing is simply not possible but, with the help of our stakeholders, we are able to adapt our economic model to be able to reopen. Whilst this cannot be a long term exercise, we believe it is a crucial first step in restoring live theatre to the London landscape.
“We are able to adhere to necessary social distancing on stage, backstage, and thoughout the auditorium and public spaces. The recent announcement of the government's road-map therefore brings our reopening into immediate focus."
The capacity of the theatre with social distancing will be between 170 and 200, depending on the size of the groups (audiences are grouped by household, in 2s, 3s or 4s), bringing it down to 30–35% of its usual 541 seating capacity.