Westport Country Playhouse Presents Christie Murder Mystery Reading, 2/22

The Agatha Christie classic murder mystery, "And Then There Were None," will be read by Westport Country Playhouse actor alumni and audience favorites Geneva Carr, Keir Dullea, Beth Fowler, Charlotte Moore, Ciarán O'Reilly, Joe Paulik, Jay O. Sanders, Mark Shanahan, Mark Silence, Doug Stender and Paxton Whitehead on Monday, February 22, 7 p.m., at Westport Country Playhouse.

Directed by Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor, the reading is the first in "The Script in Hand Series" that will bring together professional actors to read works by master playwrights. The new playreading series is a continuation of the highly successful "Funny Mondays" and "The Classical Series," produced by The Playhouse from 2005 through 2008.

"I'm thrilled to be asked to put the reading series back on The Playhouse stage," said Ms. Keefe, who coordinates "The Script in Hand Series." "I had so much fun organizing them in the past it just seemed like a great time to bring back a program that had been so popular."

In "And Then There Were None," ten people, who have previously been involved in the deaths of others but have escaped attention or punishment, are tricked into coming to an island where they are all mysteriously murdered one by one, in a manner paralleling the old nursery rhyme, "Ten Little Indians."

Westport Country Playhouse alumni and their respective WCP productions are: Geneva Carr ("Relatively Speaking," Time of My Life" and "How the Other Half Loves"); Keir Dullea ("Butterflies Are Free" which transferred from The Playhouse to Broadway, "Star-Spangled Girl," and a reading of "They Knew What They Wanted"); Beth Fowler ("Dear Brutus," "The Immigrant," "David Copperfield"); Charlotte Moore (appeared in "The Fatal Weakness" and directed "The Streets of New York," "Finian's Rainbow" and a reading of "A Marriage Minuet"); Ciarán O'Reilly ("The Streets of New York," "Someone Who'll Watch Over Me" and a reading of "Arsenic and Old Lace"); Joe Paulik ("Old Wicked Songs"); Mark Shanahan ("Around the World in 80 Days," "Tryst," "Sedition," "Journey's End," "David Copperfield" and a reading of "Arsenic and Old Lace"); Doug Stender ("A Marriage Minuet" and a reading of "Arsenic and Old Lace"); and Paxton Whitehead ("The Crucifier of Blood," "A Bench in the Sun," "Relatively Speaking," "Time of My Life," "How the Other Half Loves").

Director Anne Keefe co-directed with JoAnne Woodward the WCP production of "David Copperfield," and appeared in "A Holiday Garland" and a reading of "Arsenic and Old Lace." She is a former Westport Country Playhouse artistic director and currently serves as artistic advisor.

Playwright Agatha Christie (1890 -1976) is known as the "Queen of Crime." Her works, particularly those featuring detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre. Christie has been referred to by the Guiness Book of World Records as the best-selling writer of books of all time and the best-selling writer of any kind.

The series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation and the Newman's Own Foundation. Tickets to the one-night-only event are $15. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org or by calling the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport.

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, The Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theatres. Now celebrating its 80th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, The Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, The Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, The Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

For more information, visit www.westportplayhouse.org.