Whodunnit? is a play written by Anthony Shaffer in 1977, originally called The Case of the Oily Levantine.
Whodunnit? is a comedy / mystery play. The first act follows the traditional conventions of a country house mystery with an assortment of suspects, but in the second act it becomes apparent that nobody is truly what they seem.
A collection of characters apparently drawn directly from old English detective fiction arrive for a party in an old country house. Among them there is an old Navy man, a ditzy woman, and a flamboyantly eccentric butler who keeps trying to serve up his own cocktail creation, the "Zombie Whammy". There is also Andreas Capodistriou, a smooth talking serpent of a man who demonstrates to each guest in turn that he knows something compromising about them and is intent on blackmailing each one.
The act climaxes as each guest, having a reason to want Capodistriou dead, conceals his or her self on the set to lie in wait for the victim, who arrives alone and kneels to perform his evening prayer. As he does so, a collection of sword-wielding hands appear around him. One blade falls, removing his head, and the curtain falls.
The act opens on an incongruous scene. Policemen in modern dress mingle with the archaically dressed guests. They are investigating the murder that ended the first act. The old Navy man sneezes and loses his fake mustache in the process. He reveals that he is actually an actor, and was hired to participate in a role-playing party for the house's owner, who would act as detective and solve the mystery. It transpires that all of the "guests", and the butler, are also hired actors. The entire affair has been orchestrated in order to murder the man who played "Capodistriou". This in turn is revealed to be Gerry Marshall, a theatrical agent who held the contracts of all the actors except the one playing the host, with whom he had a different relationship. Each actor hated Marshall, but all deny knowing it was him playing Capodistriou. The organizer of the party was apparently Marshall himself. It is up to Inspector Bowden to unravel the tangle of relationships, real and unreal, to unmask the killer.
Cast of characters. [1]
An earlier version of the play, under the title The Case of the Oily Levantine, opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on 13 September 1979. [2] The designer was Hayden Griffin and the director was Patrick Dromgoole, with costumes by Anne Sinclair and lighting by Howard Eaton. The cast was as follows:
The Broadway production of Whodunnit? began previews at the Biltmore Theatre on 14 December 1982. After 19 previews, it opened on 30 December 1982. It closed on 15 May 1983 after 157 performances. [1]
The production credits for opening night were as follows:
The opening night cast was as follows:
Crooked House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year.
William Maurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career.
Between the Lines is a television police drama series created by J. C. Wilsher and produced by World Productions for the BBC. It was first shown on BBC1 between 1992 and 1994, running for three series.
David Horovitch is an English actor, perhaps best known for playing the character of Inspector Slack in Miss Marple. He appeared in the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon as Grand Maester Mellos.
Philip Jackson is an English actor. He appeared as Chief Inspector Japp in both the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot and in BBC Radio dramatisations of Poirot stories; as Melvin "Dylan" Bottomley in Porridge; and as Abbot Hugo, one of the recurring adversaries in the 1980s series Robin of Sherwood.
David William Frederick Lodge was an English character actor.
Edward Erskholme Clive was a Welsh stage actor and director who had a prolific acting career in Britain and America. He also played numerous supporting roles in Hollywood movies between 1933 and his death.
Clive Francis is a British stage, television and film actor.
Dead Famous (2001) is a comedy/whodunit novel by Ben Elton in which ratings for a reality TV show, very similar to Big Brother, rocket when a housemate is murdered. Unlike a typical whodunnit, Elton does not reveal the identity of the victim until around halfway into the book.
Roger Leach was an English-Australian actor who played Sgt. Tom Penny in The Bill, and guest starred in Bergerac, Perfect Scoundrels and Doctors.
John Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917.
The Hollow is a 1951 play by crime writer Agatha Christie. It is based on the 1946 book of the same name.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a 1935 American melodrama film directed by Stuart Walker and based on the unfinished 1870 novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.
Roger Rowland was a British TV actor predominantly working in the 1970s and 1980s. He made quite a number of UK television appearances, including some well-remembered series. His best-known role was Sergeant North through the 1973 series of Special Branch. He was once married to the actress Anne Stallybrass.
The New Year Honours 1958 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the London Gazette of 31 December 1957 to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1958.
Charles Cahill Wilson was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Hollywood from the late 1920s to the late 1940s.
RichardRobert Elliott was an American character actor who appeared in 102 Hollywood films and television shows from 1916 to 1951.
The 1936 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1935.
Crooked House is a 2017 mystery film directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, based on Agatha Christie’s 1949 novel of the same name. The film stars Max Irons, Terence Stamp, Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, and Stefanie Martini. Principal photography began in September 2016, and the film aired in the UK on Channel 5 on 17 December 2017.
This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2013) |