''Appointment with Death'' is a 1945 play by crime writer

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

. It is based on her 1938 novel of the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

Background

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 ''Murder on the Nile'' (sometimes titled ''Hidden Horizon'') is a 1944 murder mystery play by crime writer Agatha Christie, based on her 1937 novel ''Death on the Nile''. Background The play is based on her 1937 novel ''Death on the Nile'' wh ...

'' 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!" Nevertheless, the play did open there at the King's Theatre on 29 January 1945 and then opened in the West End on 31 March 1945 at the

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at the junction of Denman Street and Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus, in the City of Westminster, London. It opened in 1928. In its early years the theatre presented a wide range of ...

. 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 ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery fiction, mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, who described it as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 N ...

'' 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 Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) 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 ...

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 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 characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

. 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 Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is Christie's most famous and longest-running character, appearing in 33 novels, two plays (''Black Coffee (play), Black Coffee'' and '' ...

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.

Synopsis of Scenes

The time – the present. ACT I *The lounge of the King Solomon Hotel,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Afternoon ACT II *Scene 1 – The Travellers' Camp at

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

. Early Afternoon. A week later. *Scene 2 – The same day. Three hours later ACT III *Scene 1 – The same. The following morning *Scene 2 – The same. The same afternoon

Plot

Reception

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' 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." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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." The ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' short review of 3 April 1945, by Bernard Buckham said, "Has a strong dash of comedy, which it can do with!"

Credits of London production

Director:

Terence de Marney Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of no ...

Cast of ''

'' Production:Christie, Agatha. ''The Mousetrap and Other Plays'' (Page 80) HarperCollins, 1993. *

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

as Mrs Boynton * Deryn Kerby as Ginerva Boynton, her stepdaughter * Ian Lubbock as Lennox Boynton, her elder stepson * Beryl Machin as Nadine Boynton, Lennox's wife * John Glennon as a Liftboy *

Percy Walsh Percy Walsh (24 April 1888 in Luton, Bedfordshire – 19 January 1952 in London) was a British stage and film actor. His stage work included appearing in the London premieres of R.C.Sherriff's '' Journey's End'' (1928) and Agatha Christie's ''And ...

as Alderman Higgs * Anthony Dorset as a Clerk and a Bedouin * Janet Burnell as Lady Westholme *

as Miss Pryce * Gerard Hinze as Dr Gerard *

Carla Lehmann Carla Lehmann (26 February 1917 – 1 December 1990) was a Canadian stage, film and television actress. Career Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, Lehmann was the youngest of the five children of Dr Julius Lehmann and Elsa Hillerns. She was ...

as Sarah King * Alan Sedgewick as Jefferson Cope * John Wynn as Raymond Boynton, Lennox's younger brother *

Harold Berens Harold Berens (born Isadore Harold Berenbaum; 4 March 1903 – 10 May 1995) was a British comedian and character actor. Biography He was born into a Jewish family in Glasgow, the son of a tailor, and grew up and was educated in Leeds, Harrog ...

as a

Dragoman A dragoman was an Interpreter (communication), interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish language, Turkish-, Arabic language, Arabic-, and Persian language, Persian-speaking countries and polity, polities of the Middle East and ...

* Owen Raynolds as Colonel Carbery * Cherry Herbert as a Lady visitor * Corinne Whitehouse and Joseph Blanchard as Hotel visitors

Publication

The play was first published as a paperback by

Samuel French Ltd Samuel French, Inc. is an American company founded by Samuel French and Thomas Hailes Lacy, who formed a partnership to combine their interests in London and New York City. It publishes plays, represents authors, and sells scripts from its Lo ...

on 29 June 1956, priced at four

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

. It was first published in hardback in ''

The Mousetrap and Other Plays ''The Mousetrap and Other Plays'' is a collection of plays by English crime novelist Agatha Christie, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons on 25 November 1978. The eight plays had been previously published individually between 1944 and 1960, and al ...

'' by

G. P. Putnam's Sons G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam an ...

in 1978 () and in the UK by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in 1993 ().

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Appointment With Death (1945 Play) Plays by Agatha Christie Detective, mystery and crime plays 1945 plays Plays set in Jerusalem Petra in fiction Plays based on novels