Solve theatre's best kept secret when The Mousetrap visits Sheffield on 75th anniversary tour

Solve the great British murder mystery that has cativated audiences around the world.

Silent clues, shifting shadows and the best kept secret in theatre history - captivating thriller The Mousetrap is coming to Sheffield in its 75th year.

The cast of The Mousetrap which will be presented at Sheffield Lyceum from November 3 to 7, 2026. | Matt Crockett

placeholder image — The cast of The Mousetrap which will be presented at Sheffield Lyceum from November 3 to 7, 2026. | Matt Crockett

An impressive cast including Nicholas Bailey (EastEnders) and Susan Penhaligon (A Fine Romance) will bring Agatha Christie’s tale to life on the Lyceum stage from November 3 to 7, 2026.

A shocking murder has rattled London. Far from the chaos, a remote country guesthouse welcomes seven strangers seeking refuge from a snowstorm. But when a police sergeant arrives with a warning no one expects, it becomes clear the threat is already within their walls.

Every whisper hides a clue. Every story masks a lie. And as suspicion tightens its grip, one question chills the room: Who among them is capable of murder?

Susan Penhaligon as Mrs Boyle and Nicholas Bailey as Major Metcalf in The Mousetrap. | Matt Crockett

NIcholas Bailey, known to millions as Anthony Trueman in EastEnders, plays Major Metcalf in The Mousetrap. He previously appeared in the London production in 2021 where he played Giles Ralston. Nicholas said: “I was in the cast when it was the very first show in the West End to come back after Covid. We had two alternating casts – everyone was being really careful. But it definitely felt right that The Mousetrap, as the mother of the West End, should be the first back.”

Susan Penhaligon, who is reprising the role of Mrs Boyle, also had her first experience of The Mousetrap in those surreal pandemic times. She said: “I was part of the UK tour that got halted by Covid. We were all in costume waiting to begin, and at the last moment the theatre managers came round and said ‘You can’t go on stage.”

Susan then joined the West End production for its post-Covid opening, which she remembers with great fondness. “After that terrible period of wondering if people would ever be able to sit together in a theatre again, that first night was unlike anything I’ve experienced. The audience went wild.”

She was happily suprised by the range of the audiences for The Mousetrap. “It gets huge audiences. I think it’s because it really is a show you can bring everyone to – you can bring your auntie, your grannie, mum and dad, the kids, teenagers. Everyone loves the challenge of trying to work it out. They always say afterwards ‘Oh, I was convinced it was so-and-so.’ It’s very much like the appeal of The Traitors.”