Peninsula Players Theatre, America’s oldest professional resident summer theater and Door County’s theatrical icon, is proud to announce the cast of “The Stranger” by Agatha Christie, the award-winning mystery writer known for her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and many others. Christie’s psychological thriller kicks off the theater’s autumn season on September 4 and performs for seven weeks, closing on October 20. “The Stranger” is generously sponsored by Main Street Market, Barbara & Richard Board, and Margaret & Dale West.
The Queen of Crime reminds us in “The Stranger” that not everyone is who or what they seem. Enid questions her seven-year engagement to Dick Lane and is looking for a bit of spark in her lackluster life. Enter Gerald Strange, a handsome, charming gentleman who shares her longing for adventure and may be the man to sweep her off her feet. Is Gerald the answer to her wishes? Or a path to disaster?
The cast includes Peninsula Players Theatre alums Aja Alcazar, McKinley Carter, Andrés Enriquez, Garrett Lutz, and making her debut at the theater is Sarah Coakley Price. Alcazar, Enriquez and Lutz continue their season at the theater where all three performed in the Midwest premiere of Paul Slade Smith’s “The Angel Next Door” and the musical “Million Dollar Quartet.”
Carter (“Sunday in the Park with George,” “Panic,” “Into the Woods”) returns to Peninsula Players Theatre after performing in the world premiere of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” at Goodman Theatre. Her Chicago theater credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Writers Theatre and more. She has also been nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for her performance in Drury Lane Theatre’s production of “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.”
Price is a Chicago-based actor whose work has been seen at Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Northlight Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, Strawdog Theatre and Writers Theatre. As a voice-over artist, she won a 2020 Audio Verse Award for Best Performance of a Leading Role in a New Audio Play Production for her portrayal of Augie Eckhart in “The Vanishing Act.” Her television credits include NBC’s “Chicago Fire.”
Maggie Kettering, who made her Peninsula Players Theatre directorial debut last year with “Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery,” returns to direct “The Stranger.” Audiences will recall her performances in “Outside Mullingar,” “Lend Me a Tenor,” and as Dr. Watson in the theater’s 2018 production of “Miss Holmes.” She directed “Educating Rita” and “The Thanksgiving Play,” both at Lean Ensemble in South Carolina and “Emma” at Door Shakespeare.
The creative team of “The Stranger” includes alumni Jack Magaw (“Mary’s Wedding,” “Dames at Sea,” “Write Me a Murder”), scenic designerand Victoria Deiorio (“Blithe Spirit,” “Wait Until Dark,” “Opus”), sound designer. Making their design debuts are Yvonne L. Miranda, costume designer and Trey Brazeal, lighting designer. Miranda’s designs have graced the stages of American Players Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and more. Brazeal has lit productions at Cape Fear Regional Theatre, North Carolina; Olney Theatre Center, Maryland; Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and Writers Theatre, Illinois.
Christie’s first detective novel, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” was published in 1916, and since then, her books have sold more than two billion copies in 44 languages. During her career, Christie wrote more than 150 short stories, many of which display her cleverness for intricate tales of suspense. “The Stranger,” a play recently discovered among her papers, is Christie’s own adaptation of her short story “Philomel Cottage,” first published in The Grand Magazine in 1924 at the very early stages of her career, and later in the 1934 Listerdale Mystery Collection.
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. Student and group tickets are available.
“The Stranger” performs Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:00 p.m., except for September 8 and October 20 at 2:00 p.m. To purchase tickets for groups of 15 or more, please phone the Box Office between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. at (920) 868-3287. The theater and its offices are closed on Mondays. For more information, visit www.peninsulaplayers.com.