Stage
The Mirror Crack'd comes to the stage
Agatha Christie’s much-loved thriller The Mirror Crack’d has been adapted for the stage for the first time in the UK. The show, a European premiere, is produced by the Wales Millennium Centre and Wiltshire Creative and will begin its tour from February 2019, opening at Salisbury Playhouse on 15 February before touring to Dublin, Cambridge and Cardiff.
The iconic Miss Marple mystery has been scripted for the theatre by Rachel Wagstaff (Flowers for Mrs Harris, Birdsong) and is directed by Melly Still (Coram Boy, My Brilliant Friend).
Miss Marple will be played by Susie Blake (Coronation Street), with the role of Inspector Craddock played by Simon Shepherd (Peak Practice). Colin R Campbell, Joe Dixon, Suzanna Hamilton, Julia Hills, Katherine Manners, Katie Matsell, Davina Moon, Huw Parmenter and Gillian Saker complete the cast line up.
Times are changing. Girls are wearing trousers and Hollywood has come to a sleepy English village in the shape of a beautiful film star. Miss Marple is left to feel that the world has no need of her now until a mysterious death calls into question the past of all those present. Everyone’s version of events is different. Can Miss Marple unravel the tangle of lies? This thrilling new play, based on Agatha Christie's novel, explores how we all colour our own memories, our own truths, to disguise the darkness that lies within. In this rich, psychological drama, everyone has a secret…
Graeme Farrow, Artistic Director, Wales Millennium Centre, said: “We are hugely excited to bring a dynamic, thoroughly modern Marple to the stage and to work again with Rachel Wagstaff and Melly Still. This is also our first collaboration with Wiltshire Creative. Co-producing across nations and regions is extremely important in order to create new work today. We hope that The Mirror Crack’d will provide Agatha Christie fans with a new twist and attract new audiences to her work”.
Gareth Machin, Artistic Director, Wiltshire Creative, said:: “We are delighted to be working with Wales Millennium Centre for the first time and will be excited to see Rachel’s brilliant adaptation bringing the legendary Miss Marple to a new audience here in Salisbury and beyond. We are very proud to be co-producing this major project as part of our inaugural season.”
Rachel Wagstaff wrote the book for multi-award-winning musical, Flowers for Mrs Harris, returning to Chichester Festival Theatre in September, directed by Daniel Evans. Her critically acclaimed adaptation of Birdsong (West End) is now on its fourth UK tour. Rachel wrote the book for new musical Only the Brave, which was produced at the Wales Millennium Centre in 2016. Most recently, Rachel co-wrote, with Duncan Abel, a stage version of Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train.
Melly Still has worked as a director, choreographer, designer and adaptor for many companies including the National Theatre, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic, Hampstead Theatre, The Manchester Royal Exchange and the Young Vic. She has been nominated for Olivier and Tony awards (best director and best design). Her work has travelled throughout the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, the Far East, US and Broadway. Melly recently directed Tiger Bay the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre and Cape Town Opera. Other recent credits include: My Brilliant Friend (Rose Theatre); Cymbeline (Royal Shakespeare Company) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Glyndebourne Opera Festival).
