Sergent Trotter's Character Review from Agatha Christie's The Mouse Trap

Georgie Corrigan is a difficult character to portray. In fact his true motives are almost shielded from even himself. In the play he is introduced as Sergeant Trotter, this is his alias, which he uses to get close to his victims. Before the curtain is lifted Georgie has already killed his first victim. That is why my first question about this character was: what exactly drove him so out of his mind that he would go to such an extreme? I looked up investigative techniques of real detectives and police to try and help me figure out these details. As for this case it was a matter of vengeance and hatred for someone in the past that snapped his psyche. His first victim was a woman named Maureen Staning, a woman who abused and neglected him, and his brother and sister. The abuse was so severe that his younger brother Jimmy died from it. This was most likely the main cause to his madness.

Georgies mother was very caring and loving. She always was looking out for the three of them. She had raised Georgie and the other children without much help from their father, who was much to busy defending his country from the Germans to play ball. It was a very happy childhood. Then one day there mother went down with pneumonia. She died a week later leaving the three practically orphaned. Their father was either dead or could not be found do to the need for him as a soldier, so Georgie would never know his fate. It was then that he was taken away from his happy home and put in the care of the most vicious and uncaring couple named the Stanings.

The conditions he suffered while in the Staning estate where horrid. There was not much to eat and half of what was there was rotten. The summers where not nearly as bad as the winters, the room he and his siblings where given was not only small and uninviting, but also very cold. Ice would form on the bedroom jug. Their toes would sometimes feel the sting of frostbite, and all they had was each other and one thin ragged blanket. The only thing that kept them alive was each other.

One night Mr. John Staning, Maureen's husband came home drunk. He shouted and yelled ferociously at anything he could blame his problems on. Poor jimmy got in the way, and with a strong backhand he was sent to the ground where he scratched his arm on a nail that was protruding from the floor. His wound was left untreated, thanks to the neglect of the Stanings and became infected. Jimmy died because of the neglect. When the outside world found out about this the remaining two children, Georgie and his sister Kathryn were placed back in the care of the orphanage. Once there Georgie thought about his mother. Less then a year passed before Kathryn was adopted by another family and taken away to another country at the age of twelve. Georgie was alone.

His thoughts of anger escalated in the solitude of his life. The loss of his brother was now amplified by the adoption of his sister. The family was entirely broken. He felt the pain of his mothers death swell in his heart again. He felt the helplessness he had felt when his brother was taken by the infection. He wondered where his sister was and how she was doing. And during all of this he wondered if his father was still alive or if he was dead. He had not seen him since he went off to the war, he assumed he was dead, because there was never any word of him coming back, but there was always the nagging thought of why couldn't he save us. He cursed the Stanings for what they did to Jimmy. But when he got the word of the verdict he was disgusted.

They sent them to prison, not even for life but for ten years. Prison would not be bad enough for those horrible murderers he thought. He swore he would kill them one day, and he started to plan his vengeance, but there was more then just the Stanings. There was a Mrs. Boil that sent them to the long bridge farm and into the hands of those cruel people in the first place. And then there was Jimmy's young school teacher Molly. Poor Jimmy had managed to get a letter off to her one day. He had begged her to help them, but she never came. She just did not bother. He stewed in his plans for years. As the years passed in the orphanage he knew he would never get adopted, and love was missing in his life. Finally he grew up and immediately was taken into the army. He was subjected to the normal training regiment, but unfortunately his already feeble mind was unable to take army life. It is then that he snapped. The Army psychiatrist determined him schizophrenic, and shortly after that he made a run for it deserting his duties to his country. He then roamed free the thought of avenging his brother consuming his time. He found the magistrate responsible for sending him and his siblings to Longbridge Farm and followed her movements. Tracking her like a dog on the hunt. But he waited until he found his main prize before he struck. Maureen Staning had changed her name to Maureen Lion, her husband had died long ago while he was imprisoned. He watched the two of them, Maureen lion keeping her in the vicinity of London while Boil seemed to hop from hotel to hotel, when suddenly he found the last of his prey. Mrs. Boil had reserved a room in a place called Monkswell Manor. One of the proprietors of the establishment was named Molly. After a bit of investigation he found that it was the same Molly that did not answer his brother's cry for help. It was time to make his move. Luckily he was in London at the time, and he knew where he could find Maureen Staning. His childish and insane mind raced with excitement and anticipation. He created a little clue for the police to heighten the drama of the investigation. Part of his mind reverted to a playful childish nature. He would leave a notebook at the murder scene. The notebook would have a drawing of three mice in it and the addresses to Culver Street Padington and Monkswell Manor, and on a torn page that he left on the body would be the words this is the first along with a bar of music to the nursery rhyme three blind mice. That is his signature tune. He whistles it before every murder. This adds a little bit of mystery and anticipation to the character of Georgie. Most murderers that were in any way in there right mind would normally have thought of this as a bad move, but Georgie did this on purpose to pull of another part of the plan He did this to confuse and anger the police. He then dressed up as a sergeant, and made up a story checking his facts again and again before he would make the trek to Monkswell Manor guest house. Suddenly he looked out the window, the snow was lying thicker then he had planned. He smiled for not only would he be able to get into the Manor under the disguise of a police officer, but he would have all the time he wanted to toy with them as well. The snow would have them all trapped in that tiny space. He might even be able to get away with it if he pulls it off correctly, especially, because he can ski over the snow. That is when he enters into the production.

There are a lot of undetermined in how this character can be presented. Therefore the time and place are even more imperative to develop this character. To start with the basics, it is wintertime and it is snowing, therefore large warm clothing will be covering his body, and also he will probably have either boots or hard soled shoes of some type especially because he skied his way into the scene.

The play is also set in the nineteen fifties still partially war torn England. There is a lot of confusion and sadness at this time. Almost every family has experienced a loss due to the Second World War. The mood of most of the world is a little more conservative and proper then the modern world of 2008 is used to.

The most difficult part of portraying this character is acting wile you are acting. You have to make some crucial decisions. For instance the audience is not supposed to have any idea that you are not a police sergeant until the very end of the play, so how subtle should you let out the fact that you are really a psychopath. You could choose to let the audience see expressions and mannerisms whenever the other actors' backs are turned. In fact in the script itself it says that the character should twirl his hair once and a wile, because that is how eventually his sister, who is also in this play and is using a fake name as well, recognizes him before he strikes again. But besides that little fact I would choose to not make any motions that I am truly the killer at all. Some may think that this is an unwise choice, but knowing myself and the mindset I change to for performing, I am sure that little clues will unintentionally pop up in unknown spots that would only be noticeable by people who have already seen the play already.

Another big part of the character is an air of professionalism, and respectability, until the very end of the play. As soon as he pulls the revolver out of his pocket, his mood changes instantly. Now it would be irresponsibly bad to make the man to informal and insane. One should put his mind on a single track. Not one of pure insanity, but instead one of a man whose single minded obsession with revenge has driven him out of his mind. He is not out of control but instead completely in control of himself, he just has lost the ability to tell right from wrong. He does not laugh manically or wring his hands before he strangles anyone.

This brings up another crucial point that I found difficult in making and portraying the character. He is very hard to keep a serious and true tone and movement with. Any small mistake in the performance of the Character Sergeant trotter could turn him from a respectable and feared murderer to a melodramatic villain who should be twisting his mustache and hiding behind a black cape. This little detail does not only apply to the insane version of him which we see at the end of the play but also the police sergeant that we are originally introduced to. One of these instances of simplicity that can ruin the mood set forth by the rest of the play is how quickly Sergeant Trotter turns when he is interrogating the patrons of Monkswell manor. For instance if you do it to quickly it surprises the audience and incites a bit of laughed mixed in with the feeling of shock. And if it is done to slow, the audience might wonder exactly what is going on, and the humor will be present then as well. This is even more of a problem for me for I am drawn to make people laugh. It is one of my basic instincts that tells me how exactly to move for timing, luckily I used this handicap to my advantage. Instead of turning at the speed and time a thought was right I chose to move almost immediately after that time had passed. Another problem with keeping serious was not to make him overly serious. I have to put in enough movement to make it look as though I am not hung from the ceiling like a puppet, while simultaneously try my best to keep a stiff professional, and proper English policeman air about me.

Another difficult part to the performance is portraying the feeling that I as Sergeant Trotter am in control of the situation no matter how much the character of Paravachini undermines his power and makes jokes. This brings up a point in the acting. There are many things that can trigger a laugh or a smile. You have to be completely serious to pull off the character of a British police officer of the nineteen fifties.

One thing that distressed me a bit as I was looking into the part with more depth was a small problem with my physical appearance. The problem is that he has been finding and following the people who were responsible in his mind for killing his brother Jimmy, and probably has not had a lot of money to spend on anything. Unfortunately I am an overweight man, and that is not about to change, so I had to try and come up with a reason for being fat in this period of time when food is on the more expensive side. So the question is how did I get fat? To this day the only reason I can think of is that he has an eating disorder do to being starved as a child and puts most of his money into the food he eats. I find that a very important reason and adopted it in my mindset, though it is not apparent to the crowd because it will never come up, except of course in the line. "There are more important things then meals Mrs. Ralston, for instance Mrs. Boil will not be wanting another meal." That line might be slightly changed to accommodate for the small appearance difference.

A straight and almost perfect posture is essential to the character. That way the audience will be able to see his character morph not only mentally but also physically. To have a character slightly slouch in his posture, and spread an evil smirk across his lips. That way there is a more spectacle to the change that will shock the audience in the amazing realization.

There is a problem with doing this character out side of the theater, but since the play is more then fifty years old I suppose it does not matter. Ever since Agatha Christy first started this play she has asked every audience member not to tell anyone how the play ends, that way it will come as a pure unspoiled surprise to every watcher. I have just ruined that little piece for everyone who reads this report and has not yet seen The Mouse Trap on the character, and I formally apologize for doing so.