Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" is the longest-running play ever
The West End whodunnit opened in 1952 and hit 30,000 performances in 2025 — and audiences are still sworn to keep its ending secret.
The Mousetrap, a murder mystery by Dame Agatha Christie, is the longest-running theatrical production in the world. It opened at London’s Ambassadors Theatre on 25 November 1952 and transferred to the neighbouring St Martin’s Theatre in 1974, where it still plays.
By 19 March 2025, the production had clocked 30,000 continuous performances — interrupted only by a forced closure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guinness World Records has tracked the category since its very first 1955 edition, and The Mousetrap took the lead in 1958, making it one of the longest-standing records of all.
By tradition, the audience is asked at each curtain not to reveal the identity of the killer.
Christie reportedly expected the play to run for only a few months. More than seven decades later, it remains a fixture of the West End.
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