"An Unexpected Guest" at Theatre in the Round

Winter is here, and so is Theatre in the Round's annual Agatha Christie play. The Unexpected Guest is a 1958 play written by the prolific and beloved mystery author and playwright. It begins with a dead body, shot through the head, and the supposed murderer standing by and admitting to shooting him. But of course, it's not as simple as that. We cycle through just about every character as a viable candidate for murderer, until we get to the shocking truth. In the hands of this talented cast and creative team, it's an entertaining ride. The Unexpected Guest plays Fridays through Sundays until December 22, but TRP fans love their Christie so shows are already starting to sell out. Act fast to get your winter mystery fix!

The show opens on Richard Warwick, shot dead in his wheelchair in his Welsh country estate (with Narendra Ganesh doing a great job playing dead throughout the entire long first scene). He's found by the titular unexpected guest, a man named Michael Starkwedder (Sam Sweere), whose car has gone into a nearby ditch. He stumbles upon the crime, and the supposed perpetrator. Richard's wife Laura (Corinne Nobili) is standing in the room, and freely admits to shooting her husband, who was not a very nice man (someone who shoots cats for fun deserves what he got). Michael doesn't believe Laura's story, so he thinks up a plan to pin the murder on someone from Richard's past out for revenge. This results in a whole tin of red herrings, as we learn everyone from his simple-minded younger brother (Pharaoh Jones), to his mother (Robin Gilmar), to his valet (Leigh Webber), to the loyal family servant (Kathleen Winters), to his wife's lover (Mark A. McCarthy) may have had motive to kill Richard. A local police inspector (Ronald Coats) tries to make sense of the mess, along with his trusty sergeant furiously taking notes (David Coral), and they manage to come up with a plausible story, and even a confession. But is that really what happened?

photo by Aaron Mark Photo Film

Mary Cutler directs the play and despite the nearly three-hour runtime it moves along at a pretty good pace (and fortunately they sell coffee in the lobby). The mystery and suspense level is high, as the plot takes twists and turns, with a bit of humor to lighten things up (particularly in the inspector/sergeant relationship). The ten-person cast includes a lot of new-to-me actors, and they're all great, creating specific characters and revealing layers. 

The in-the-round space is used well; I was sitting in probably the worst seat in the house (practically behind the doorway built at one of the entrances) and with a few exceptions, I could see everything as it played out in various parts of the gorgeously detailed set. A fun feature of TRP is that you get to walk through the set (but do not touch!) and observe all of the fun details up close. The wood floor is covered with area rugs, with period furniture set up around the space, every surface covered with souvenirs from Richard's world travels (and love of big game hunting, as all evil rich men do), books, photos, a fully stocked bar, vintage cigarette cases and lighters, and more (set design by John A. Woskoff, porp design by Roxanne S. Miller). Last but not least, the period costumes (designed by Mickey Foley) are neat and elegant, highlighted by two stunning '50s era full-skirted dresses for Laura that would make Betty Draper envious.

For a different kind of December #TCTheater tradition, visit the oldest theater in Minneapolis for an entertaining classic mystery.