Agatha Christie mysteries captivate Long Island theater audiences

Long Island theaters are abuzz with mystery this season, thanks to Agatha Christie, the woman dubbed "The Queen of Crime." To mark the 50th anniversary of the author's death, there are museum exhibitions in London, this month’s premiere of the Netflix miniseries "Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials" and the latest "Knives Out" movie "Wake Up Dead Man," which Newsday’s Robert Levin termed "Christie-adjacent." All of which confirm that while Christie has never gone out of style, she’s never been more "in." Three local productions in the coming weeks promise to have audiences guessing till the closing curtain who did it.

A mystery within a mystery

Emily Vaeth is directing "And Then There Were None" at South Shore Theatre Experience in Lindenhurst from Jan. 30 to Feb. 7. The production offers even a mystery within the mystery, as there were two different endings written for the play — Agatha Christie’s own, and one that debuted in London in 1943.

"The war was still going on, so the producers wanted to make a happier ending so that people would leave with something good in a world that was so dark," Vaeth explained, adding, "Christie herself has written that she doesn’t actually know which one she preferred." Only Vaeth, the actors and crew know which ending they’ll be doing. For the audience, it’ll be one of many surprises.

Look for meticulous details, close-up action and carefully choreographed stage fights, some of Vaeth’s signature touches. "The audience is on three sides of the stage so there’s never a moment where any of the actors can hide," she said, "which makes it more challenging, but it makes it all the more fulfilling when we get that wow moment."

Christie has stated that "And Then There Were None" was the most difficult of her stories to write, though difficulty in plotting was never a problem for the world’s bestselling novelist. Her 66 stories have sold over 2 billion copies — more than anything other than the Bible and Shakespeare. Not bad for a home schooled, self-taught writer who penned her first book, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," on a bet with her sister. Critics raved, and it introduced one of literature’s most beloved characters, the quirky Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.

Inspired by an LI crime

Poirot and his little gray cells will be solving the infamous "Murder on the Orient Express" at Star Playhouse at Stage 74 in Commack (March 7-15) under Catherine Clyne’s direction. Clyne leans classical in her treatment of this story, and, though it takes place on a train hurtling across Europe, it was initiated by a crime that took place on Long Island. Clyne said that every detail — from lavish period costumes to actors’ accents — joins to create an atmosphere.

Though the plot may be familiar due to several film productions, the play is different. She said, "If someone went in having seen the movies, they should still be in for a surprise," adding, "I think everybody loves a mystery, and I don’t think that’s ever going to go out of style."

Summoning ‘Witness’

EastLine Theatre’s production of "Witness for the Prosecution," which runs Feb. 7-March 1 at BACCA Arts Center in Lindenhurst, is an intricate fusion of courtroom drama, murder mystery and character study. Director Paul DeFilippo noted that at the initial reading, thanks to classic Christie red herrings, the entire cast was shocked by the ending.

"It still has those detective elements," he said, but with a twist. "In a lot of Agatha Christie plays, it’s about the detective finding something out through their own ingenuity, whereas in this play, a lot of the sleuthing happens, really, for the audience."

Though it was first written as a novel in 1925, the fact that Christie only turned it into a play after the end of World War II adds to its current relevance. "A lot of it has to do with attitudes toward foreigners and how women’s roles had changed," DeFilippo said. "I think this is really a play about examining your own biases and preconceived notions. No matter who the murderer actually ends up being, it says a lot about you who you thought it was."