Agatha Christie's BLACK COFFEE Coming to Theatre On The Bay

Following a long and strong tradition of ‘Christie’ favourites, such as Spider’s Web, The Mousetrap, The Unexpected Guest, and Witness For The Prosecution, Pieter Toerien presents Agatha Christie’s ingenious murder mystery, Black Coffee, at Theatre On The Bay from 19 March until 26 April, 2025. The show is directed by Alan Swerdlow, and stars Alan Committie as Hercule Poirot.

Black Coffee will have you guessing, “whodunnit?”, right up until the very end! A year before the Second World War, the details and formulae for a new atomic weapon are stolen from the safe of an eminent British physicist. Murder and mayhem follow in quick succession…

Enemy spies are in search of the secrets, but there is only one man capable of solving these dastardly crimes. Enter Dame Agatha Christie’s beloved character, Monsieur Hercule Poirot, everyone’s favourite Belgian detective, who is left to unravel a tangle of family feuds, old flames and suspicious guests, in order to find the killer and prevent catastrophe. He does so after many wonderful twists and turns in true Christie tradition.

His quest transcends the mere identification of the killer, it extends to the crucial mission of averting a potential worldwide catastrophe… dun dun duuun!

This three-act Poirot thriller, a superbly crafted mystery with endless red herrings, subplots of infamous spies and an astonishingly prophetic storyline about weapons created through “bombarding the atom”, is one of Christie’s most gripping country house murder mysteries.

Cast/Crew:

Alan Committie as Hercule Poirot.

Ashley Dowds as Captain Arthur Hastings O.B.E.

Mike Huff as Tredwell / Johnson.

Michael Richard as Dr Carelli.

Peter Terry as Sir Claud Amory / Inspector Japp.

Anne Williams as Caroline Amory.

Brett Kruger as Richard Amory.

Dianne Simpson as Barbara Amory.

Schoeman Smit as Edward Raynor / Dr Graham.

Jackie Lulu as Lucia Amory.

Set, Props and costumes designed by Sarah Roberts.

Sound design by Adam Howard.

Lighting design by Denis Hutchinson.

About Black Coffee

Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee premiered at the Embassy Theatre in London in December 1930. The play was adapted into a film the year after its stage premiere, in 1931, and later adapted into a novel by Charles Osborne. 

Pieter Toerien previously presented Black Coffee at The Baxter Theatre from 13 December 1984 to 5 January 1985, directed by Rex Garner, and starring Bill Flynn as Hercule Poirot. The play toured to Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Durban. Black Coffee is the first stage adaptation of one of her novels that Christie wrote herself and which established her as the Queen of the West-End thrillers.

Agatha Christie wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections in addition to her plays, including the world's longest-running play, "The Mousetrap". Agatha Christie published six romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott, exploring human psychology and relationships. She succeeded in keeping her identity as Mary Westmacott unknown for nearly twenty years and the books, much to her pleasure, were modestly successful. Christie’s novels have sold over two billion copies, an amount surpassed only by the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare.

Agatha Christie's enduring popularity stems from her masterful storytelling, creation of memorable characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and the clever, suspenseful plots that keep readers guessing until the very end. 

Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee runs at Theatre On The Bay from 19 March until 26 April, before transferring to Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 30 April until 1 June, 2025.

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