“A Murder is Announced” was not written for stage by Agatha Christie but adapted in 1977 by Leslie Darbon, who has adapted many of Christie’s and other authors’ novels for the stage. He is probably best known for his TV scripts for ‘Department S’. His tongue-in-cheek style is apparent in this play and mixes well with Christie’s quirky characters.
The ‘announcement’ is in the local paper, stating time and place of a murder to occur in Miss Blacklock’s early Victorian house. However, the victim is not one of several occupants, temporary or permanent, but an unexpected and unknown visitor. What follows is a classic Christie puzzle, with Miss Marple on hand to provide the final solution in a dramatic confrontation scene just before the final curtain.
I am very pleased to see so many new faces in the cast, and I think I can speak for the whole cast when I say that we have very much enjoyed putting the together all the clues (along with the shoals of scarlet Clupeidae).
I hope it brings as much enjoyment to you, our audience.