''Chimneys'' is a 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 ...

and is based upon her own 1925 novel ''

The Secret of Chimneys ''The Secret of Chimneys'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in June 1925 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It introduces the characters ...

''.

Background

The play was written in 1931 and was due to open at the Embassy Theatre in Swiss Cottage in December of that year. One year previously, '' Black Coffee'', Christie's first performed stage play, had opened at the same theatre. As was the law at the time, the play was vetted by the

Lord Chamberlain's Office The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised t ...

and passed for performance. Several press articles referred to the new play but suddenly, and without explanation, the theatre substituted ''Mary Broome'', a four-act comedy from 1912 by

Allan Monkhouse Allan Noble Monkhouse (7 May 1858 – 10 January 1936) was an English playwright, critic, essayist and novelist. He was born in Barnard Castle, County Durham. He worked in the cotton trade, in Manchester, and settled in Disley, Cheshire. From ...

, in its place. While not forgotten, it remained unknown other than to a small group of aficionados until December 2001 when John Paul Fischbach, the Artistic Director of Vertigo Theatre in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, Canada, was looking to re-launch the company after it had been forced to vacate its home in the Calgary Science Centre and was opening in its new home of the Vertigo Theatre Centre. In looking for something special and relatively unknown to celebrate the opening, Fischbach contacted Agatha Christie Limited, who handle the author's rights, and was told by its chairman (and Christie's grandson, Mathew Prichard) that the only relatively unknown stage work that could be performed was the 1930s play '' A Daughter's a Daughter'' which was performed once in the 1950s but had previously been revised into a 1952 novel published under the nom-de-plume of Mary Westmacott. Fischbach had a copy of the play available and in looking through it, found another manuscript headed: ''Chimneys: A play in three acts by Agatha Christie.'' He again contacted Prichard who said that he had heard of the play but said he had never seen a copy. Prichard contacted the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

who located the typescript (together with notes suggesting

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

for one of the roles) and Vertigo Theatre presented the play's world premiere on 16 October 2003 with Mathew Prichard in the audience. The UK premiere took place on 1 June 2006 when it was performed by the

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotland's 2011 census. (n.p. ...

Festival Theatre Company. The US premiere took place on 12 June 2008 as part of the International Mystery Writers' Festival in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a Home rule in the United States, home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the List of cities in Kentucky, fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is loca ...

. The Australian premiere was on 6 March 2021 at the Genesian Theatre."Genesian Theatre
The Secret of Chimneys
, ''Genesian Theatre''. Retrieved 8 March 2021 The play has been published in the collection "Discovering New Mysteries Scripts" by on Stage Press, a division of Samuel French, Inc.

UK premiere – Pitlochry (2006)

Director: John Durnin Cast: *Jonathan Battersby as Tredwell *Jonathan Coote as Lemoine *Jacqueline Dutoit as Old Lady *Robin Harvey Edwards as Lord Caterham *Michele Gallagher as Lady Eileen Brent *Martyn James as The Hon. George Lomax *Jonathan Dryden Taylor as Bill Eversleigh *Darrell Brockis as Anthony Cade *Flora Berkeley as Virginia Revel *Richard Addison as the Stranger *Ronald Simon as

Superintendent Battle Superintendent Battle is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie who appeared in five of her novels. Overview Battle is notable for his stolid good sense and careful management of information as a case proceeds. He relies in part ...

* Matthew Lloyd Davies as Herbert Banks *Richard Galazka as Boris Anchoukoff

References

External links

''Sunday Herald'' article on discovery and world premiere of the play.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

article on play's discovery in the

Review of UK premiere in Pitlochry

Article in ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for Audience, theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the ...

'' on play's discovery and US premiere {{Agatha Christie 1931 plays 2003 plays Detective, mystery and crime plays Plays by Agatha Christie Plays based on novels