The Stranger review - First-rate production of rarely seen Agatha Christie thriller on Kenilworth stage

Katie Newman and Lewis Nunn in The Stranger

Charles Essex reviews The Stranger, by Agatha Christie, at the Priory Theatre, Kenilworth

Agatha Christie plays are the bread and butter of amateur theatre, always popular even though the ending is often known. So it is a real treat when a rarely performed production is staged. The Priory made the rewarding decision to stage The Stranger based on the novel Philomel Cottage.

This small cast had the ideal script and plot to keep the audience guessing to the end, something often lacking once Christie’s stories become well-known. Enid (Katie Newman) is awaiting the return of her fiancé Dick (Lewis Nunn) after he had been abroad for several years. But her flatmate Doris (Becky Young) detects uncertainty about Enid’s affections. Enid’s accent, hair and costume captured perfectly the well-off young lady in the late 1920s.

Cheryl Ryan is wonderful as the ‘help’ – Mrs Higgins in act one and Mrs Birch in act two. These characters are unnecessary to the plot other than to highlight the deviousness of men and to act as a warning to women to beware. But Cheryl’s portrayals of the brash character and dour character, respectively, are wonderful, bringing real mirth to the story.

Enter Gerald (Jonathan Farrer) has come to view the flat Enid and Doris are vacating. Gerald expresses his immediate infatuation with Enid. Dick, staid and unadventurous which Lewis communicates admirably, is discarded by Enid in favour of Gerald. If only Enid had listened to Mrs Higgins.

In act two we find Enid and Gerald three months into married bliss in a remote country cottage. Jonathan portrays gradually Gerald’s coercive and controlling behaviour. Mutterings in this modern audience meant that they saw it coming before Enid, a sign of our current age. Katie conveys convincingly Enid’s growing fear as Jonathan reveals Gerald’s narcissism. Dick arrives in the nick of time.

Director Bev Avis-Dakin and the set designer Nicky Main have put on a first rate performance which clearly delighted this nearly full house. As a rarely seen Christie story, it is worth the ticket.

Until September 14. Visit priorytheatre.co.uk or call 0333 666 3366 to book.