Plot
 | This section needs a plot summary.(June 2021) |
| Appointment with Death | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Agatha Christie |
| Date premiered | 29 January 1945 |
| Place premiered | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
Appointment with Death is a 1945 play by crime writer Agatha Christie. It is based on her 1938 novel of the same name.
Christie is silent on the writing of both the book and the play in her autobiography. Her biography states that she started writing the play in a burst of enthusiasm after being involved in the preparations for Murder on the Nile which was being presented by her actor friend Francis L. Sullivan. The writing was completed by March 1944 and preparations were made towards the end of the year for an opening in Glasgow before transferring to the West End theatre. Christie wrote to her agent, Edmund Cork, the month before that "it really seems quite impossible that the play can be ready for Glasgow!" [1] Nevertheless, the play did open there at the King's Theatre on 29 January 1945 [2] and then opened in the West End on 31 March 1945 at the Piccadilly Theatre. The play was not well received by the critics although box office receipts at the start were better than those for And Then There Were None eighteen months earlier. The play was directed by Terence de Marney who had played Philip Lombard in And Then There Were None. The play closed on 5 May after just 42 performances.
The original West End production is most notable for the appearance of Joan Hickson in the role of Miss Pryce. Christie was so taken with her performance that she wrote to Hickson and stated that she hoped she would one day play the character of Miss Marple. [3] Hickson was later cast in this role in 1984 in the BBC television series.
The adaptation of the book is notable for being one of the most radical reworkings of a novel Christie ever did, not only eliminating Hercule Poirot from the story, but changing the identity of the killer. In the play, the ill Mrs Boynton commits suicide and drops several red herrings that pointed to her family members as possible suspects, hoping that they would suspect each other and therefore continue to live in her shadow even after her death, whereas in the novel Lady Westholme is the murderess. In the play, Lady Westholme becomes a purely comic character.
The time – the present.
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
| This section needs a plot summary.(June 2021) |
The Observer was not overly impressed in its review of 8 April 1945 when it said, "Mrs. Agatha Christie sans library or lounge-hall. Unhappily, her people, with one exception, are less surprising than their surroundings. As a thriller – how did Mrs. Boynton die? – the play is tepid and far too talkative. But it does give Miss Mary Clare a strong scene or two as the woman of the gimlet gaze, and Miss Carla Lehmann and Mr. Owen Reynolds both help pleasantly." [4]
The Guardian 's issue of 2 April 1945 contained a review by "LH" in which he praised the character of Mrs Boynton but said that, "her death leaves the last act colourless. The business of spotting which of the many interested hands held the fatal hypodermic syringe is commonplace. It is not the flies caught in the web, but the spider in the middle, that is the evening's strength. Apart from thus pulling down the roof-tree in the second interval, Miss Christie has built up her house of mystery with her usual skill." [5]
The Daily Mirror 's short review of 3 April 1945, by Bernard Buckham said, "Has a strong dash of comedy, which it can do with!" [6]
Director: Terence de Marney
Cast of Piccadilly Theatre Production: [7]
The play was first published as a paperback by Samuel French Ltd on 29 June 1956, priced at four shillings. It was first published in hardback in The Mousetrap and Other Plays by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1978 ( ISBN 0-396-07631-9) and in the UK by HarperCollins in 1993 ( ISBN 0-00-224344-X).
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Christie's best-known characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, "The Tuesday Night Club", which later became the first chapter of The Thirteen Problems (1932). Her first appearance in a full-length novel was in The Murder at the Vicarage in 1930, and her last appearance was in Sleeping Murder in 1976.
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, was an English actress of stage, film and television.
Joan Bogle Hickson OBE was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series Miss Marple. She also narrated a number of Miss Marple stories on audiobooks.
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The play opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on 17 May 2021. The longest-running West End show, it also has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place as of February 2024. Attendees at St Martin's Theatre often get their photo taken beside the wooden counter in the theatre foyer. As of 2022 the play has been seen by 10 million people in London.
Appointment with Death is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 May 1938 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Towards Zero is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in June 1944, and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in July of the same year. The first US edition of the novel retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
Appointment with Death is a 1988 American mystery film and sequel produced and directed by Michael Winner. Made by Golan-Globus Productions, the film is an adaptation of the 1938 Agatha Christie novel Appointment with Death featuring the detective Hercule Poirot. The screenplay was co-written by Winner, Peter Buckman, and Anthony Shaffer.
Verdict is a 1958 play by British mystery writer Agatha Christie. It is unusual for Agatha Christie plays in more than one way: for example, it is an original play, not based on a story or novel; and though there is a murder in the story, it is a melodrama more than a typical 'whodunnit' mystery as the murder takes place on stage.
Black Coffee is a play by the British crime-fiction author Agatha Christie (1890–1976) which was produced initially in 1930. The first piece that Christie wrote for the stage, it launched a successful second career for her as a playwright. In the play, a scientist discovers that someone in his household has stolen the formula for an explosive. The scientist calls Hercule Poirot to investigate, but is murdered just as Poirot arrives with Hastings and Inspector Japp.
Terence Arthur De Marney was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer.
And Then There Were None is a 1943 play by crime writer Agatha Christie. The play, like the 1939 book on which it is based, was originally titled and performed in the UK as Ten Little Niggers. It was also performed under the name Ten Little Indians.
Murder on the Nile is a 1944 murder mystery play by crime writer Agatha Christie, based on her 1937 novel Death on the Nile.
Three Blind Mice is the name of a half-hour radio play written by Agatha Christie, which was later adapted into a television film, a short story, and a popular stage production.
The Hollow is a 1951 play by crime writer Agatha Christie. It is based on the 1946 book of the same name.
Peril at End House is a 1940 play based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The play is by Arnold Ridley, who much later played Private Godfrey in Dad's Army. Ridley was granted permission to adapt the book in an agreement with Christie dated 18 July 1938.
Murder at the Vicarage is a 1949 play by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. Christie's official biography suggests that the play was written by Christie with changes then made by Charles and Toy, presumably enough for them to claim the credit. Whatever the truth of the authorship, Christie was enthusiastic about the play and attended its rehearsals and first night.
Spider's Web is a play by crime writer Agatha Christie. Spider's Web, which premiered in London's West End in 1954, is Agatha Christie's second most successful play, having run longer than Witness for the Prosecution, which premiered in 1953. It is surpassed only by Christie's record-breaking The Mousetrap, which has run continuously since opening in the West End in 1952.
The Unexpected Guest is a 1958 play by crime writer Agatha Christie.
Jan Waters is an English actress of the theatre, television, and film. She was particularly active in the London theatre scene during the 1960s and 1970s, notably appearing in the original West End productions of Jule Styne's Do Re Mi and Noël Coward's High Spirits. She also appeared on British television and in a few British films during this time. She was once married to actor Peter Gilmore.
