LONDON, Nov 26: “The Mousetrap” on Monday launched into its 50th anniversary year as the world’s longest-running play — and Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit showed no signs of flagging.

“It happens to be a jolly good yarn and most people like a jolly good thriller,” said David Turner, director for the last 15 years of the play which ranks alongside Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London as a must-see tourist attraction.

The “old warhorse” has defied the critics, rewritten theatre record books and attracted 8.25 million fans since it first opened in 1952, a year when Winston Churchill was British prime minister.

Productions of the play have been presented in 44 countries and it has been translated into 24 languages. Audiences are always asked at the end not to reveal who the killer is.

Every new milestone is a cause for celebration and the start of its 50th year was no exception — a gala performance was laid on for London schoolchildren to mark show number 20,392.

“It shows no sign of losing its impact,” said Turner, glowing with pride at a big “50” sign outside the theatre. “We might just have a diamond anniversary sign saying 60.”

London theatreland was hit by falling audiences after the Sept 11 attacks in the United States. “The Mousetrap” was no exception, but Turner said: “It has gone through the Gulf war and the (British) miners’ strike and here it still is.”

The cast is changed annually to keep it fresh.

Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough, who was in the original production, said: “It’s a London institution — like the ravens in the Tower of London. You must view the play as a classical piece of theatre. That is why it has run so long.”

Agatha Christie gave the stage rights to her grandson, Mathew Prichard, on his ninth birthday. The luckiest man in show business has seen the show more than 20 times and is still sworn to secrecy on who the killer is.

“The enjoyment of the audience watching it is transparent. I saw it once with a group of Japanese and they had a great time and hissed the killer at the end,” Prichard said.—Reuters