Warner Stage Company Presents Agatha Christie's THE UNEXPECTED GUEST

The Warner Stage Company will open their 2018-19 Season with one of Agatha Christie's most ingenious murder mysteries - THE UNEXPECTED GUEST. Performances will be held in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre September 23-30, 2018. Lost in the fog, a stranger seeks refuge in a nearby house only to find a man shot dead and his wife standing over him with a smoking gun. But the woman's dazed confession is anything but convincing and the unexpected guest decides to help. Remarkably, the police clues point to a man who died two years previously but as the ghosts of a past wrong begin to emerge, a tangled web of lies reveals family secrets and chilling motives, where the real murderer turns out to be the greatest mystery of all.

The Warner Stage Company production of Agatha Christie THE UNEXPECTED GUEST is directed by Keith Paul with stage manager Taryn Glasser. The cast features Nicholas Bourne, Paolo Celentano, Darrell Cookman, Beverly Delventhal-Sali, Jonathan Jacobson, Kristen Moresi, Peggy Terhune, Maximillian Tieman, Payton Turpin and Robert Wiener. Performances are September 22, 28 and 29 at 8 pm and September 23 and 30 at 2 pm. The Unexpected Guest is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

To purchase tickets, call the Warner Box Office at 860-489-7180 or visit warnertheatre.org.

The Nancy Marine Studio Theatre Series is sponsored by Northwest Community Bank.

Built by Warner Brothers Studios and opened in 1931 as a movie palace (1,772 seats), the Warner Theatre was described then as "Connecticut's Most Beautiful Theatre." Damaged extensively in a flood, the Warner was slated for demolition in the early 1980s until the non-profit Northwest Connecticut Association for the Arts (NCAA) was founded and purchased the theatre. The Warner reopened as a performing arts center in 1983, and restoration of the main lobbies and auditorium was completed in November 2002. In 2008, the new 50,000 square foot Carole and Ray Neag Performing Arts Center, which houses a 300 seat Studio Theatre, 200 seat restaurant and expansive school for the arts, was completed. Today, the Warner is in operation year-round with more than 160 performances and 100,000 patrons passing through its doors each season. Over 10,000 students, pre K-adult, participate in arts education programs and classes. Together, with the support of the community, the Warner has raised close to $17 million to revitalize its facilities. NCAA's mission is to preserve the Warner Theatre as an historic landmark, enhance its reputation as a center of artistic excellence and a focal point of community involvement, and satisfy the diverse cultural needs of the region.