Agatha Christie: Black Coffee

Agatha Christie’s first piece of writing for the stage, initially produced in 1930 and the start of a successful second career for her as a playwright. In her 1977 autobiography she describes it as “a conventional spy thriller … full of cliches” but she also notes that “it was, I think, not at all bad”. Indeed, its format is familiar enough – scientist/inventor Sir Claud Amory discovers that someone in his household has stolen the secret formula, the guests are gathered in the library (via a neat and unusual trick) and traps legendary detective Hercule Poirot plus his assistant Captain Hastings arrive to investigate … but Amory is murdered before they can get started, and Poirot’s little grey cells have to work overtime …

We don’t know any details of the cast or director, but it is a fun play and should make for a good evening. There are further performances at 7.30pm on 27 and 28 September, with a 2.30pm matinee as well on the Sunday.