In conjunction with its production of Agatha Christie’s recently discovered “new” work, “The Stranger,” Peninsula Players Theatre will host Agatha Christie scholar Dr. Christopher Chan on Friday, October 11, at 5:30 p.m. in the theater. Chan will discuss the discovery of Christie’s original adaptation in her archived papers as well as her remarkable career. Admission to the pre-show seminar is free, and tickets to performances are available. Pre-show seminars at Peninsula Players Theatre are free events for the public as a commitment to educate and serve its community at large.
Agatha Christie is known worldwide 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 outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 66 crime novels and 150 short stories, including six “crimes of the heart” novels written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and over 20 plays. Her work includes “Murder on the Orient Express,” “Death on the Nile,” and the genre-defining “And Then There Were None.”
“The Stranger,” a play recently discovered among her papers, is Christie’s adaptation of her short story “Philomel Cottage.” The story was first published in The Grand Magazine in 1924 at the initial stages of her playwriting career, 28 years before her still-running play “The Mousetrap” premiered on stage in 1952. Ever exploring her craft, “The Stranger” is not a detective story or a typical “whodunit.”
Chan lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a graduate of Lawrence University. He earned a Master of Library and Information Science degree from UW-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Marquette University. He teaches online graduate history classes and works as an International Goodwill Ambassador for the official Agatha Christie website, www.agathachristie.com, of which he is also an editor. He is the author of “Sherlock’s Secretary,” “Nessie’s Nemesis” and is the creator of the Funderburke and Kaiming mysteries. Chan writes historical and critical essays on Agatha Christie’s work and writes for the magazine Gilbert at chesterton.org, which specializes in book and television reviews.
Peninsula Players Theatre is committed to providing educational programming for the community and has a long history of educational initiatives, including an intern program that dates back to the founding days of the theater in the 1930s. Contact the Box Office at 920-868-3287 or visit www.peninsulaplayers.com for more information on free seminars or to purchase tickets.
“The Stranger” will conclude its run on October 20 at 2:00 p.m. Performances are Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:00 p.m. except for Sunday, October 20 at 2:00 p.m. In the autumn, the theater’s all-weather pavilion has in-floor radiant heat to take the chill out of the air, but as Mother Nature is the theater’s lobby, patrons should dress for the weather and be prepared for shifting temperatures and breezes off the bay. Peninsula Players Theatre is a smoke-free campus. Smoking is prohibited on the grounds at all times. Audience members are invited to come early for a pre-show beverage or snack at the Luna Bar and Canteen. The grounds open 90 minutes before the show, the theater opens 30 minutes before the show for seating, and a pre-show bonfire (weather permitting) is lit in the Beer Garden around 6:15 p.m. Patrons should dress for the weather and be prepared for shifting temperatures and breezes off the bay.