Michael Starkwedder

Lost in the fog, a stranger - the unexpected guest - seeks refuge in a nearby house, only to find a man shot dead and his wife standing over him with a smoking gun. A tangled web of lies reveals family secrets and chilling motives. And the real murderer turns out to be the greatest mystery of all. Agatha Christie will keep you guessing until the very end.

Add together a foggy night, dead body, clues that point in different directions, twists and turns, and what do you get? Agatha Christie's The Unexpected Guest. The Unexpected Guest opened in 1958 in the West End and was turned into a novel by Charles Osborne in 1999. Test out your detective skills at Little Theatre Mechanicsburg where The Unexpected Guest will take the stage April 26-May 12. I had the opportunity to take a sneak peak of the first act and to speak with two of the actors-Kaitlyn Booth, portraying Laura Warwick, and Nova Lorraine, playing Inspector Thomas.

The weather and season are perfect for an evening or afternoon cooped up with a bunch of murder suspects in an English manor.  You won't be disappointed in THE UNEXPECTED GUEST.

The Unexpected Guest is based on a play written by Dame Agatha Christie, first staged in London in 1958. The show begins on a foggy night, when Michael Starkwedder (Jesse Lalonde) comes to a home looking for shelter and finds the body of Richard Warwick crumpled over his wheelchair with Laura Warwick (Dylan Barnabe), Richard's wife, holding a gun. When Laura admits to the murder, Starkwedder helps the pretty widow concoct a scheme to save her from the hangman's noose. But, of course, all may not be as it seems in a Christie play. Is Laura telling the truth or is she covering up for someone? We are soon introduced to other members of the Warwick household, each of whom had a possible motive to send the despicable Richard Warwick to an early grave.

Creative Arts Lab presents STAGE LIFE, a rousing celebration of lives well-lived in and around the Theatre - The work, the art, the passion, the craziness and the joy, conceived and adapted by Martin Tackel.

A beautiful woman, a dead body and a smoking gun!  Agatha Christie's classic play The Unexpected Guest, celebrates its 60th birthday this year having opened in the West End at the Duchess Theatre on August 12, 1958.  Be Bold Productions has mounted a faithful production of her plot-twisting work Off-Broadway at the Player Theatre.

Creative Arts Lab presents STAGE LIFE, a rousing celebration of lives well-lived in and around the Theatre - The work, the art, the passion, the craziness and the joy, conceived and adapted by Martin Tackel.

Presented by the Claremont Dramatic Society, the classic Agatha Christie murder mystery THE UNEXPECTED GUEST is currently on stage at The Masque Theatre in Muizenberg. This mysterious whodunnit comes to life under the direction of local favourite, Lynn Moss, who recently directed ABIGAIL'S PARTY for The Masque Theatre Players.

The Santa Paula Theater Center will present Agatha Christie's tantalizing whodunit The Unexpected Guest from June 24 - July 31 with performances Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Sunday matinees at 4 pm at the Santa Paula Theater Center, 125 South 7th Street in Santa Paula.  Tickets for The Unexpected Guest are $18 for Adults, $15 for Seniors & Students, and $12 for Children 12 & under.  Reservations can be made by calling (805) 525-4645 or online via www.santapaulatheatercenter.com