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Post by crabtree on Jan 31, 2018 22:29:38 GMT
Well she can certainly write a good book, but is she a good dramatist? I've just watched Go back for Murder, and the certainly conceit is certainly bitty and clunky, though she is trying to play with theatrical form. It just did not flow and the driving character of Act One only appears briefly in act two. I must check though that it was she who adapted this for the stage.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 11:10:31 GMT
Yes, and has she ever had a hit play? I mean, has a single production of any of her plays ever run for more than 65 years?
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Post by crabtree on Feb 1, 2018 18:35:10 GMT
Yes, but have you ever seen The Mousetrap - by no standards can it be called a well written play, or even well structured. There are other forces at work with that production. And do any of the plays actually 'thrill?'
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Post by Jan on Feb 2, 2018 7:50:38 GMT
Yes, but have you ever seen The Mousetrap - by no standards can it be called a well written play, or even well structured. There are other forces at work with that production. And do any of the plays actually 'thrill?' Well-written by our standards now or by the standards of the time ? It is a subjective judgement. |
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Post by crabtree on Feb 2, 2018 8:38:16 GMT
Yes, I'll agree it is subjective, as is everything on all these pages, but when I saw the Mousetrap some thirty years ago, it was the least satisfactory theatrical experience I can recall.
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Post by Jan on Feb 2, 2018 8:55:28 GMT
Yes, I'll agree it is subjective, as is everything on all these pages, but when I saw the Mousetrap some thirty years ago, it was the least satisfactory theatrical experience I can recall. But was it regarded as well-written 65 years ago ? My guess is it was. Likewise "Witness for the Prosecution" which also seems to be doing good business currently. Hard to say. But what I can say is that her puzzle mystery books are noticeably better written than her contemporaries writing in the same genre most of whom are now largely forgotten (like John Dickson Carr for example). |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 10:45:41 GMT
Lucy Bailey is directing a new production of Love from a Stranger by Dame Agatha and Frank Vosper. Touring from Feb to Jul, inc Richmond 1-5 May.
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Post by profquatermass on Feb 2, 2018 11:53:34 GMT
Love from a Stranger is great. There was an updated radio version a few years ago and there's a film with Basil Rathbone as the villain (and a young-ish Joan Hickson as a maid). It's all about creepy gaslighting and I think could be really good on stage
Christie currently has two hits in London. I think you'd find it pretty hard to argue that she *doesn't* know how to write a good play. I found The Moursetrap totally charming.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2018 13:36:06 GMT
Love from a Stranger is great. Oh isn't it just. Certainly perks up a dull afternoon when you've nothing to do. Isn't the interweb simply marvellous? |
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Post by crabtree on Feb 2, 2018 18:27:51 GMT
I think what I am asking for is a production that actually thrills, and has some theatricality, rather than the literal drawing room set and lovely costumes that duly get applauded. The late Steven Pimlott did a stylish And Then there Were None, which shook things up a bit. I think I want to feel the effect of the murder, that someone with a family has actually been killed, rather than just exposition. A good director should be let loose on the plays and make them dynamic, and not just decent radio productions.
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Post by joem on Feb 3, 2018 8:40:52 GMT
Any particular reason why this thread is under "Plays"? I was in a production of ATTWN when it had its original name years ago. Played the murderer and hammed it up big time.
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Post by profquatermass on Feb 3, 2018 9:32:41 GMT
Any particular reason why this thread is under "Plays"? I was in a production of ATTWN when it had its original name years ago. Played the murderer and hammed it up big time. The role memorably played by Frasier Crane in a school production. As for the thread, until someone does a musical adaptation of Death on the Nile, isn't it the best place for it? |
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Post by joem on Feb 3, 2018 9:39:23 GMT
Any particular reason why this thread is under "Plays"? I was in a production of ATTWN when it had its original name years ago. Played the murderer and hammed it up big time. The role memorably played by Frasier Crane in a school production. As for the thread, until someone does a musical adaptation of Death on the Nile, isn't it the best place for it? You tell me. "Agatha Christie" isn't a play. Unless someone writes it. |
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Post by crabtree on Feb 3, 2018 10:05:45 GMT
Ok, perhaps I should have called this 'The Plays of Agatha Christie'. Has anyone ever seen her 'Ahknaten' - I don't recall a production but it might be interesting to see a historical/political/murder mystery from her. I'm just interested if the plays could actually thrill, and could work as dynamic theatre. Incidentally, did The Mousetrap only ever exist as a play? there's no novel, is there?
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Post by hulmeman on Feb 3, 2018 12:26:24 GMT
Well she can certainly write a good book, but is she a good dramatist? I've just watched Go back for Murder, and the certainly conceit is certainly bitty and clunky, though she is trying to play with theatrical form. It just did not flow and the driving character of Act One only appears briefly in act two. I must check though that it was she who adapted this for the stage. At the Altrincham Garrick perchance? The play is based on her novel "Five little pigs" which was originally a Hurcule Poirot mystery. I've often wondered why she wrote Poirot and Marple out of some of her stage adaptations. |
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