A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Unexpected Guest

Full-Length Play, Melodrama  /  3w, 7m

Agatha Christie

A claustrophobic thriller set on a foggy night in three acts.

The Unexpected Guest

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Mystery/Thriller
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary
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 smoking 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 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.

History
The Unexpected Guest was presented by Peter Saunders at the Duchess Theatre, on 12th August 1958.
Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
RICHARD WARWICK
LAURA WARWICK
MICHAEL STARKWEDDER
MISS BENNETT
JAN WARWICK
MRS. WARWICK
HENRY ANGELL
SERGEANT CADWALLADER
INSPECTOR THOMAS
JULIAN FARRAR
  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Mild Adult Themes
    • Smoking

Media

REVIEWS

“There is an ingenious display of suspects, as if lids were being taken off wells of depravity and hastily put back." - Lawrence Kitchin, The Observer 

"The impact is tremendous [...] Just when the murder seems solved [...] Miss Christie pulls her almighty knock out punch. I admit her complete victory." - London Evening Standard

“It kept last night's audience in a state of stunned uncertainty; guessing wrongly to the last.” - Philip Hope-Wallace, The Guardian

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $130 per performance

Scripts

Available Formats:
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Authors

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and, in many languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shake ...

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