The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard

24 November - 3 December 2022

Directed by Brent Caldwell

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Dunedin Repertory Society’s final
homage to this year’s 70th anniversary of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is flattery of the
highest order.

The Real Inspector Hound, written by Tom Stoppard, is a parody of the classic whodunnit. It was first
performed in 1968 in London, creating a sensation when it opened next door to Christie’s long
running The Mousetrap. The Mousetrap producers were upset that The Real Inspector Hound
revealed, in a way, the well-guarded secret twist to their play – but they couldn’t object publicly
without drawing attention to the nature of the twist.

The Playhouse Theatre’s staging of The Real Inspector Hound comes hot on the heels of its sell-out
season of The Mousetrap in May.

The Real Inspector Hound is absurdist in style, so farce, hilarity and just plain ridiculousness are
guaranteed. It is a play-within-a-play: the main characters, Moon and Birdboot, are theatre critics
watching a new detective play – itself a parody of conventional stage thrillers. The plot consists of
both the experience of the critics and the narrative arc of the play they are reviewing. The private
lives of the critics become inextricably mixed with those of the play's characters, until some
characters end up dead and the real Inspector Hound proves to be ... well, that would be telling!

The play opens on Thursday 24 November and runs till Saturday 3 December at the Playhouse
Theatre. Performances are at 7.00pm from 24 to 26 November and 30 November to 3 December,
and at 2.00pm on Sunday 27 November.

Tickets are available for purchase online at events.humanitix.com/the-real-inspector-hound, and
there will be limited door sales one hour before each performance.

Standard tickets are $25, and concessions $20. Accessible entry is available – please arrange this by
calling 03 477 6544 or message the Playhouse Theatre Facebook page.

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