LOVE FROM A STRANGER to Embark on UK Tour

Agatha Christie

LOVE FROM A STRANGER
by Agatha Christie & Frank Vosper
Directed by Lucy Bailey

Be careful who you wish for

A whirlwind romance with a handsome and charming stranger sweeps Cecily Harrington off her feet and she recklessly abandons her old life to settle in the remote and blissful surroundings of a country cottage. However, her newfound love is not all that he seems...

Electric with suspense and with a shocking twist, this edge-of-your-seat, rarely seen thriller by the UK's greatest crime writer is rediscovered in a brand new production by Lucy Bailey (Gaslight, Dial M for Murder) designed by Mike Britton.

Full casting to be announced.

Director Lucy Bailey

Set and Costume Design Mike Britton

Lighting Design Oliver Fenwick

Sound Design and Composition Richard Hammarton

Love From A Stranger is presented by Fiery Angel in association with Royal & Derngate, Northampton, where it opens in February before touring the UK.

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and, in many languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 66 crime novels, over 150 short story collections, over 20 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott. Her work includes Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and the genre-defining And Then There Were None. Agatha Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written towards the end of the First World War, in which she served in the VAD. In it she created Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. It was published by Bodley Head in 1920. In 1926, after averaging a book a year, Agatha Christie wrote her first masterpiece. The?Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the first of her books to be published by Collins and marked the beginning of an author-publisher relationship that lasted for 50 years and well over 70 books. 'Ackroyd'was also the first of Agatha Christie's books to be dramatized -under the title Alibi -and to have a successful run in London's West End. By 1930, Agatha had introduced a new character to act as detective. When she created Miss Marple, Agatha did not expect her to become Poirot's rival, but with The Murder at the Vicarage, Miss Marple's first outing, it appeared she had produced another popular and enduring character. The Mousetrap, her most successful play of all, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. Agatha Christie was made a dame in 1971. She died in 1976. Agatha Christie Limited (ACL) has been managing the literary and media rights to Agatha Christie's works around the world since 1955, working with the best talents in film, television, publishing, stage and on digital platforms to ensure that Christie's work continues to reach new audiences in innovative ways and to the highest standard. The company is managed by Christie's great grandson James Prichard. Visit www.agathachristie.com for more information.

Frank Vosper was born in London in 1899. After military service in the First World War he started touring for Basil Dean and by the mid-20s was starring in the West End and in feature films. He later started to write plays including Murder on the Second Floor, which was a smash hit in London where Vosper played the lead and on Broadway where he was replaced by Laurence Olivier. Murder on the Second Floor has been adapted for the screen several times, the first by Vosper in 1932. He also notably appeared in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. In the 1936 West End premiere of Love from a Stranger he appeared as Lovell and this time went on to reprise the role on Broadway. On the night of 6th March 1937 he was returning to London from New York on the SS Paris and attended a party on board in the room of Muriel Oxford, 1936's Miss Great Britain. He was last seen standing at a veranda near her room. His drowned body was found near Plymouth a few days later. His death was ruled misadventure.

Bailey's was co-founder of The Print Room (2007 - 2012), directing Fabrication, Snake in the Grass, Kingdom of Earth and Uncle Vanya with Iain Glen, and co-founder and artistic director of the gogmagogs (1995 - 2007), a music theatre ensemble comprised of 7 string players that toured the UK and internationally. Recent credits include Agatha Christie Witness for the Prosecution (County Hall), The Graduate with Catherine McCormack (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leicester Curve, UK Tour), Comus by Milton/Patrick Barlow (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare's Globe), Kenny Morgan by Mike Poulton (Arcola), Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Around the World in 80 Days (St James Theatre), Gaslight with TAra Fitzgerald (Royal & Derngate, Northampton), The Importance of Being Earnest with Nigel Havers, Sian Philips (Harold Pinter Theatre and UK Tour), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare's Globe), Dial M for Murder (UK Tour), Fortune's Fool with Iain Glen (Old Vic Theatre). For the Royal Shakespeare Company: The Winter's Tale, The Taming of the Shrew (Stratford) Julius Caesar (Stratford, Roundhouse, The Armoury, New York). Shakespeare's Globe: Macbeth, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, As You Like It, The Maid's Tragedy. Hampstead: Private Lives, Glass Eels, Comfort Me With Apples. Chichester Festival Theatre: Tonight at 8.30, Stairs to the Roof. Manchester Royal Exchange: Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream. National Theatre Cottesloe: The Night Season by Rebecca Lenkowitz; Birmingham Rep: Baby Doll (transferred to National Theatre and West End), TheAsh Girl, The Lady from the Sea. 's opera credits include productions in Copenhagen, Wexford, Florence, Munich and at the English National Opera, Aldeburgh, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Lyric, Hammersmith.

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