The Unexpected Guest

One of Agatha Christies classics this proved to be as entertaining as it must have been when first performed at the Duchess Theatre in London in 1958. So, set in the 1950s, lost in the fog, a stranger seeks refuge in a nearby house only to find a man shot dead and his wife standing over him with a gun. But the woman’s dazed confession is anything but convincing and the unexpected guest decides to help. Remarkably, the police clues point to a man who actually died two years previously, but as the ghosts of a past wrong begin to emerge, a tangled web of lies reveals family secrets and chilling motives, where the real murderer turns out to be the greatest mystery of all. 

The fixed set consisted of a good-looking study with panelled walls, and located near the Bristol Channel we hear a fog horn sounding before the action commences. Having crashed his car in the fog Michael Starkwedder (Phil Field) arrives looking for help and comes across the wheel-chaired dead body of Richard Warwick (Nick Clapp). His wife Laura (Jackie Phillips) is standing close by with a gun in her hand.  Michael’s surprising reaction is to try and help Laura, who he clearly believes has shot Richard, and comes up with a plausible story for her to tell the police.

It struck me that it was most unusual for a stranger to suddenly want to help, given his own situation, but Michael admits he always wanted to play the detective. Laura acting somewhat strangely seemed to want to go ahead with the plan and does not admit for a while that she was not the murderer. These scenes between Phil and Jackie were convincingly played and throughout the play they were believable, delivering lines at a steady pace according to all the circumstances that followed.

When Inspector Thomas (Brian Jackson) and Sergeant Cadwallader (Terry Lewis) arrive and all in the house are interviewed one by one, most potentially arouse suspicion, but the likely culprit is the father of a lad that was run over by Richard Warwick two years earlier, but he was acquitted.   Richard’s mother (Ann Stirrup) clearly believes Richard was drunk and therefore guilty and Henry Angell (Maurice Thompson) Richard’s nurse / valet always found him difficult to live with, but still had a plausible story, given he was now likely to lose his job. The long- standing housekeeper for the family Miss ‘Benny’ Bennett played by Jacky Bedford first raises the potential connection with the lad’s father and admits that the family don’t talk to each other much, but the story unfolds further when it becomes clear that Laura is having an affair with Major Julian Farrar (Laurie Pegrum) who might then be a suspect too. It seems that no one in the household will miss Richard. All these roles were fulfilled equally of a high standard.

I would however like to make a special mention of Nathan Cole who played Richard’s half-brother Jan Warwick. Jan hates his brother Richard as he used to threaten sending him to an asylum. He has learning difficulties and was excited with the news that Richard was dead. Nathan was excellent in portraying this unusual character.

Excellent direction was in the hands of Amanda  Barrett and in true Christie style, we are left guessing, but still the admission by one of the players to their guilt, at the very last moment, comes as a surprise – you’ll have to watch the play to find out! Thank you again for the warm welcome.

 © NODA CIO.  All rights reserved

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.