{"product_id":"murder-in-the-west-end-the-plays-of-agatha-christie-and-her-disciples-volume-1-9798887714691","title":"Murder in the West End: The Plays of Agatha Christie and Her Disciples Volume 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the first two decades of the twentieth century, only a few criminous plays premiered in London's West End. \u003cem\u003eThe Tragedy\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eof Nan\u003c\/em\u003e (1908), by John Masefield, is the story of Nan Hardwick, whose father was hung for stealing sheep and she moves in with her uncle, William Pargetter, a farmer. Soon Nan finds herself under the yoke of Pargetter's shrewish wife and gossipy daughter. The growing torment leads to deadly violence and a tragic climax. A.E.W. Mason's \u003cem\u003eThe\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003ewitness for\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003ethe Defense\u003c\/em\u003e (1911) takes place in colonial India. An English woman, Stella Ballantyne, is tortured by her husband Stephen, and the curtain falls as Stella points a rifle at him. In \u003cem\u003eThe case of Lady Camber\u003c\/em\u003e (1915), by Horace Annesley Vachell, Alice Camber, a former music hall entertainer, is a patient at a nursing home. When Alice is found fatally poisoned, the suspect is Esther Yorke, a good looking research assistant who had in the past a liaison with Alice's husband. George Playdell's The \u003cem\u003eWare Case\u003c\/em\u003e (1915) is centered on a trial unfolding at the Old Bailey. Sir Hubert Wane, a resident of a small English town, is accused of drowning his wealthy brother in the estate's pool. He is arrested and brought to trial, with the audience serving as a jury. In \u003cem\u003eThe Secret Woman\u003c\/em\u003e (1920), by Eden Phillpotts, primitive emotions explode when Ann Redvers, a farmer's wife, discovers that after twenty years of blissful marriage, her husband has fallen for another woman. \u003cem\u003eBulldog Drummond\u003c\/em\u003e (1921), by \"Sapper\" and Gerald du Maurier, begins with a patriotic Englishman, Hugh Drummond, launching a series of adventures, wherein he clashes with arch-villain Carl Peterson in a battle Royal. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen came Edgar Wallace, a prolific writer of thrillers. He was the first to make a specialty of detective drama. Among his many plays, \u003cem\u003eThe Ringer\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eOn the Spot\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Case of the\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eFrightened Lady\u003c\/em\u003e are generally considered the best. It is widely perceived that only the Bible and the plays of Shakespeare have sold more copies than Agatha Christie's whodunits. Among Christie's fifteen stage thrillers, the notable ones are \u003cem\u003eTen Little\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eIndians\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Mousetrap\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eWitness for the Prosecution\u003c\/em\u003e. Playwrights who followed Wallace and Christie with their plays of menace and crime include W. Somerset Maugham, A.A. Milne, J. B. Priestley, Daphne du Maurier, Terrence Rattigan, Aldous Huxley, John Osborne, Graham Greene, and Jeffrey Archer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmnon Kabatchnik, now retired, was a professor of theater at SUNY Binghamton, Stanford University, Ohio State University, Florida State University, and Elmira College. He directed numerous dramas, comedies, thrillers, and musicals in New York and across the United States. He is the author of Sherlock Holmes on the Stage as well as the seven-volume series Blood on the Stage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe book's entries are presented chronologically and include a plot synopsis, production data, opinions by critics and scholars, as well as biographical sketches of playwrights and key actors-directors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BearManor Media","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50513330307346,"sku":"9798887714691","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4b82e393-d5ff-4781-b669-41cba552a58f.jpg?v=1730963146","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/murder-in-the-west-end-the-plays-of-agatha-christie-and-her-disciples-volume-1-9798887714691","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}