Play reading

ESU- Fringe Club Play-reading for December 2019 - Season’s Greetings!

The Hollow by Agatha Christie; a Whodunit for Christmas  - Tuesday 17 December 7.30 at Colette’s, Hong Kong Fringe Club.

Agatha Christie’s novel version of The Hollow appeared in 1946, and, like her previous ‘whodunits’, proved popular with her readers. Christie felt that The Hollow would make a good play but she came up against the opposition of her daughter, who Christie affectionately described as having "had the valuable role in life of eternally trying to discourage me without success". She was determined to turn the book, which both she and Rosalind liked, into a play, but was equally adamant that in doing so it would lose the character of her immensely popular Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, whose appearance in the book she thought had "ruined it”. Christie had problems with the production and financial backing for her stage adaptation completed in 1950, which she hoped would be presented at the Festival of Britain the following year. However, she managed to find a new producer—the young and inexperienced Peter Saunders whose first stage production had been an abject failure—and the play opened at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge to favourable reviews, subsequently transferring to London theatres where it proved a big success and ran for a year at the Fortune and then the Ambassador. Christie was particularly touched by the attendance of George VI’s wife, Queen Mary, who complimented her and her rookie producer, on the play’s success.

The action of the play passes in the garden room of Sir Henry Angkatell's house, ‘The Hollow’, located about eighteen miles from London. An unhappy game of romantic follow-the-leader explodes into murder one weekend at the home of Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell, who have invited a group of guests for a weekend house party. The philandering Dr. John Cristow is at the center of the trouble when his mistress, the well-known sculptor Henrietta Angkatell, who is also Henry’s younger cousin, Cristow’s ex-mistress, movie star Veronica Craye, and wife Gerda, simultaneously arrive at The Hollow. Also visiting are Edward Angkatell (who is in love with Henrietta) and Midge Hardcastle (who loves Edward). As the list of romantic associations grows, so does the list of potential suspects when Cristow is shot dead. Veronica ardently desires to marry Cristow and succeeds in restarting their affair, but is unable to get him to divorce his wife. Veronica unwisely states that if she cannot have him, no one shall. Within five minutes Cristow is dead. Nearly everyone has a motive and most had the opportunity, but only one of them did the deed. Enter Inspector Colquhoun and Sergeant Penny (different names from the source novel) to solve the crime. Incidentally the character of Lucy Angkatell was considered one of Christie’s most impressive female fictional creations and translated extremely well to the stage.

Please note: Detective Chief Inspector Julian Quail will be the Facilitator for this event. Constable Mike Ingham has been sent for re-training and will return with new methods in January.