Teenager Amiel Trott only tried out for the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society’s production of The Mousetrap for fun.

In June, the play’s director, Gavin Wilson, went to Warwick Academy to select a student to play the character of Christopher Wren.

Drama teacher Sarah Bowers selected three suitable students for Mr Wilson to choose from.

“My two friends were auditioning, so I thought I would too,” the 16-year-old said. Not expecting to get the role, he imagined he would spend the next school year focused on Warwick Academy’s production of the musical Grease.

To his surprise, he not only got a part in the Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap, but later also landed one in Grease.

Mr Wilson told The Royal Gazette: “Amiel’s interpretation was impressive and I felt I could work with him and he proved to be both a delightful and talented lad and a hit with the cast.

Amiel played a strange young lodger in a guesthouse in the English countryside. When guests start dropping dead in true Christie style, the other guests think he is strange enough to be the killer. The Mousetrap is one of Britain’s longest-running plays, having first been staged in 1952.

“When I found out I was the youngest member of the cast, I thought it was a red flag,” he said.

It was not.

“Being in the play was an awesome experience,” he said. “Everyone in the play was very funny, and I got on with the cast very well.”

The Mousetrap was his first experience performing on a stage away from school.

“I felt very nervous acting at the Daylesford Theatre because it is a small stage, and the audience is so close to you,” he said.

His biggest challenge was mastering a British accent. After spending the first nine years of his life in Atlanta, Georgia, his speech is more American.

“During rehearsals I kept reverting to Mr Bumble, a character I played in Oliver! at Warwick Academy,” he said. “I tried getting help from the rest of the cast, and even went online for tips.”

In the end, he felt it was safer to go with his normal accent.

“It worked out well,” he said.

Another struggle was the fake moustache he had to wear.

“I had to put it on 20 minutes before hand with this glue,” he said. “While it is drying you are not supposed to move your face. Brendon Fourie [who played Detective Sergeant Trotter] kept trying to make me laugh. I am an easier laugher, so I had to leave the room until the glue dried.”

He first got a taste of acting at Warwick Academy.

“When I was 12, I joined the drama team,” he said. “One of my teachers encouraged me to try out for Magic of the Musicals. It was super fun, and I got to meet a whole bunch of people in the upper and lower years. It was absolutely incredible. I love school plays now. They are what I adore.”

With The Mousetrap now over, he is in rehearsals for Grease, which is opening this month.

Preparing for Grease is less relaxing than the BDMS production.

“A school play can always be stressful because there are a lot of people involved, this year especially,” he said. “Being one of the older students in the play means that there is more responsibility keeping the younger ones in check. I would say The Mousetrap was a lot more forgiving.”

Grease is based on the 1978 hit musical made famous by actors John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The plot revolves around an American boy, Danny Zuko, who has a summer romance with an Australian girl, Sandy Dumbrowski. At the end of the season they part ways never expecting to see each other again. Unexpectedly they both turn up at the same American high school, where Sandy is an exchange student, and Danny runs a local gang. Amiel plays Kenickie Murdoch, Danny’s right-hand man.

“There is not much similarity between the characters Christopher Wren and Kenickie Murdoch,” Amiel said. “Kenickie is a bully and a total jerk. He is supposed to be big, cool, threatening kind of guy, while Christopher is the opposite — scrawny, high-pitched, quirky and timid.”

However, he is bringing to the role of Kenickie some things learnt from the BMDS.

“Being in The Mousetrap taught me to be more expressive with my movement,” he said.

In his penultimate year of high school, Amiel has had to work hard to balance his theatrical roles with his school work.

“For The Mousetrap, I mostly memorised all my lines in the summer before school started,” Amiel said. “That made it easier. Juggling Grease is a little more difficult.”

He has Grease rehearsals after school twice a week, and all day on Sundays. He also takes karate lessons.

“It can be a little difficult, but I just have to plan ahead of time,” he said.

He is loving the dancing involved in the musical.

“When I did Magic of the Musicals at school, I was in a song called Greased Lighting,” he said. “That will always be my favourite dance to do in a play. It is awesome to do with other people.”

As much as he enjoys acting, he is not considering it as a career.

“At first I wanted to be a lawyer,” he said. “However, I have really enjoyed taking psychology this year. I think I will go into that.”

• Grease will be held at Warwick Academy on November 28 and 29 at 7pm, and on November 29 at 2pm. Tickets are $25 available on www.ptix.bm