Dame Agatha Christie

19 Pages·2016·1.04 MB·English

by  Angela Hendry

“Black Coffee” is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
STUDY GUIDE
Created by Morgan Gregory and Anne-Marie Hanson
CONTENTS
THEATRE ETIQUETTE ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Dame Agatha Christie ................................................................................................................................... 4
The Life ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
The Legend ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Genre: Detective Fiction ............................................................................................................................... 6
The Play ......................................................................................................................................................... 7
The Detective ............................................................................................................................................ 7
The Puzzle ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Glossary ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Suggested Classroom Activities .................................................................................................................. 10
Before the Play ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Misdirection ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning ..................................................................................................... 14
Reading a short story / Viewing a film ................................................................................................ 16
After the Play .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Discussion Questions .......................................................................................................................... 17
Write Your Own Play ........................................................................................................................... 18
Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 19

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THEATRE ETIQUETTE

“The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.” – Arthur Miller

Arrive Early: Latecomers may not be admitted to a performance. Please ensure you arrive with enough
time to find your seat before the performance starts.

Cell Phones and Other Electronic Devices: Please TURN OFF your cell phones/iPods/gaming
systems/cameras. We have seen an increase in texting, surfing, and gaming during performances, which
is very distracting for the performers and other audience members. The use of cameras and recording
devices is strictly prohibited.

Talking During the Performance: You can be heard (even when whispering!) by the actors onstage and
the audience around you. Disruptive patrons will be removed from the theatre. Please wait to share
your thoughts and opinions with others until after the performance.

Food/Drinks: Food and hot drinks are not allowed in the theatre. Where there is an intermission,
concessions may be open for purchase of snacks and drinks. There is complimentary water in the lobby.

Dress: There is no dress code at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, but we respectfully request that
patrons refrain from wearing hats in the theatre. We also strive to be a scent-free environment, and
thank all patrons for their cooperation.

Leaving During the Performance: If an audience member leaves the theatre during a performance, they
will be readmitted at the discretion of our Front of House staff. Should they be readmitted, they will not
be ushered back to their original seat, but placed in a vacant seat at the back of the auditorium.

Being Asked to Leave: The theatre staff has, and will exercise, the right to ask any member of the
audience to leave the performance if that person is being disruptive. Inappropriate and disruptive
behaviour includes, but is not limited to: talking, using electronic devices, cameras, laser pointers, or
other light- or sound-emitting devices, and deliberately interfering with an actor or the performance
(tripping, throwing items on or near the stage, etc.).

Talkbacks: All Tuesday evening performances and final matinees at Royal MTC feature a talkback with
members of the cast following the show. While watching the performance, make a mental note of
questions to ask the actors. Questions can be about the story, the interpretation, life in the theatre, etc.

Enjoy the show: Laugh, applaud, cheer and respond to the performance appropriately. Make sure to
thank all the artists for their hard work with applause during the curtain call.
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Dame Agatha Christie

“Truth is never horrible, only interesting.” – Sir Claud, Black Coffee
The Life

Agatha Christie, 1890-1976 (nee Miller), was born in Torquay and educated at home. During World War I
she worked as a hospital medicine dispenser, an obvious and significant source of her knowledge of
poisons, which are the most prominent means of murder in her stories and plays. She began writing
detective fiction during the war, and published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920,
the novel that introduced Hercule Poirot, one of the most famous detectives in literary history. In 1927
she created another beloved and incredibly popular sleuth, Miss Jane Marple, who appeared first in the
story “The Tuesday Night Club.” Christie’s first marriage broke up in 1926, and her second marriage, in
1930, took her to archaeological excavations that would inform some of her later fiction. She wrote over
66 novels, two autobiographical works, and many plays, including the famous Mousetrap and, of course,
Black Coffee.
Not herself free from mystery, she once disappeared for a period of ten days, a disappearance that
brought out 500 police officers, countless public volunteers and a sizeable reward. Christie claimed to
have no recollection of the ten days and she does not mention the disappearance in her book, An
Autobiography (Acocella).
She died of natural causes in her home in 1976.

Source: A&E Television Networks. “Agatha Christie Biography.” The Biography.com website. Sept 15, 2015.
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The Legend

It has become almost common knowledge that in the world of literature only the Bible and Shakespeare
have outsold Agatha Christie. Her works have been translated into more than 40 languages, and over 2
billion copies of her works have been printed. Her play The Mousetrap is the longest running play in
theatre history: it has been in production in London, without interruption for over 60 years. There is no
sign of any wane in Agatha Christie’s popularity; quite the opposite. In 2016 a television production of
one of her short stories, two biopics, a new film version of one of her famous novels, and a series of
stamps are a few of the latest tributes to and celebrations of the Queen of Crime and her works.
 The Witness for the Prosecution - a two-part television adaptation of her short story starring
Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough, Kim Cattrall, David Haig, Billy Howle and Monica Dolan. The
Witness for the Prosecution will air on BBC One in the UK on the 26th and 27th December and
on Acorn TV in the US late January 2017. Ben Affleck is also planning to direct and star in a film
adaptation of Witness for the Prosecution in 2018.

 Director Kenneth Branagh, famous for his film adaptations of Shakespeare, including Hamlet,
Othello, and Much Ado About Nothing, has started on a new film version of Murder on the
Orient Express. Names being mentioned in association with the film are Penelope Cruz, Johnny
Depp and Judi Dench. The film is set for release in November 2017.

 Also in production are two film biopics, one starring Emma Stone, the other starring Alicia
Vikander.

 The British Royal Mail recently (September 2016) announced a series of Agatha Christie stamps.
The six stamps are designed to include microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink so that hidden
clues may be revealed with the use of magnifying glass, UV light and body heat (Flood). As well,
the Nicaraguan government once put Poirot’s face on a stamp (Acocella).

 In 2015, BBC aired a television adaptation of And Then There Were None featuring Charles
Dance (Tywin Lannister in HBO’s Game of Thrones).

Source: Flood, Alison. “New Agatha Christie Stamps Deliver Hidden Clues.” The Guardian. September 15, 2016.
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Genre: Detective Fiction
“Crime has been a staple of storytelling since its beginnings, and misdirection of the reader…has
equally had its special position” – Margaret Drabble, The Oxford Companion to English Literature

Detective Fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction, wherein an amateur or professional detective works to
solve a crime-related puzzle within a closed circle of suspects. Each suspect must have a credible motive
and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The detective eventually solves the mystery by
logical deduction from facts fairly presented to the reader. This classic structure, developed during the
1920s and 1930s, called the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, is the basis for hundreds of variations on
the form (Drabble 266 and Wilhelm, Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies, 144).
Classic Characteristics
 Crime or murder is presented as a puzzle,  Deductive reasoning is employed by the
which needs to be solved. detective to solve the crime.

 Central character is a detective (amateur  Clues are overtly and subtly presented.
or professional), who sets out to solve a
mystery.  Small, seemingly insignificant details can
play a major role in the solution.
 Detective is “remote from the common
herd.”  False clues are used as a misdirection
device, called Red Herrings.
 Suspects and their motives are tested
and assessed.

Watching and attempting to solve the puzzle—alongside the detective—is satisfying and entertaining.
In fact, author Margaret Drabble suggests that “the intricacy of the plots, the skill with which the author
produces yet disguises clues vital to the solution, give particular pleasure, so that a re-reading of a
Christie novel, for example, can provide delighted recognition of how an apparently flat narrative has
concealed quicksands of mistaken assumptions” (267).
The reader or audience can participate in this process because detective fiction is a highly structured
genre with known rules and conventions:
I. Evidence must be available to the reader
II. The solution must be reasonable (e.g., no supernatural forces)
III. There must be detection, not simply a solution, presented in the form of a “revelation”

6
The Play
“I tell you, Hastings, we have here drama! No simple, sordid crime, but drama, poignant, human
drama!” – Hercule Poirot, Black Coffee
Black Coffee is Agatha Christie’s first play, performed in 1930 and made into films in 1931 and 1932.
According to agathachristie.com, Christie wrote the script due to disappointment at the
representation of Hercule Poirot in other peoples’ adaptations, such as the 1929 film Alibi. Christie said
of Black Coffee: “a conventional spy thriller … full of clichés, it was, I think, not at all bad” (Christie).
It was worked into a novel in 1997 by Charles Osborne.

The Detective

In Black Coffee, Hercule Poirot is the detective. He has been asked to
Abbot’s Cleve, twenty five miles from London, by Sir Claud Amory who
suspects someone in the house of theft. Poirot’s character hardly needs
introduction, but a few words about him in Black Coffee are necessary,
especially to demonstrate how he fits the mould of the golden age
detective, though as has been noted, he is one of first such figures.
Poirot’s entrance to the play sets him apart from the other characters and
establishes his eccentricity. Not only does his entrance occur at a particularly charged moment, but the
audience’s attention is fixed by features of the staging. Poirot is Belgian, separating him from the
otherwise English and Italian character list, and he is eccentric in his love for order and cleanliness, as
well as in his dress, which is always impeccable. In the play, he says “the symmetry, it is everything.
Everything… should be neatness and order, especially in the little grey cells of the brain.”
Poirot has an insatiable desire to discover the truth, like all such sleuths. When the crime becomes
murder and theft, instead of just theft, several characters encourage him to leave, but he refuses. He
says to Lucia, “Madame, it is sometimes difficult to set a dog on the scent. But once he has found it,
nothing on earth will make him leave it. Not if he is a good dog. And I, madame, I Hercule Poirot, am a
very good dog!”
Poirot’s ratiocination is genius. He figures out what has happened, both in terms of the theft and the
murder, and then works to discover (and explain) the details.
Accompanying Poirot is Captain Hastings, who plays the role of the “sidekick.” The sidekick in detective
fiction is helpful to the action in that the detective, when he feels like it, can explain his thoughts to the
audience. The “sidekick” is often used to give unwitting yet important observation, and to create
comedy, aspects to watch for in Black Coffee.

7
The Puzzle

As the play is a mystery to be solved, saying too much about it would harm the viewer’s enjoyment. Yet
it is possible to indicate how the play adheres to a few key features of detective fiction while avoiding
“spoilers.”
As is common, almost any character could be responsible; in other words, part of the puzzle comes from
each character (except the detective) having a motive or motives. Clues are presented to the audience,
yet they are presented along with details that are meaningless, demanding of the audience meticulous
attention to detail in order to move with Poirot to solve the crime.
Figuring out the puzzle, who did it and how, is the major source of delight in an Agatha Christie’s work,
especially since she gives the viewer enough to join Poirot as he solves the crime. But be careful, in the
words of one of the characters, you may be “taken in… by an ingenious red herring.”

Source: wordle.net

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Glossary

Borgia, Cesare (1475-1507) - known for intrigue and bravery, the Italian leader played an important part
in Renaissance history. Likely the characters refer to Borgia because two books were published about
him in the early twentieth century, The Life of Cesare Borgia of France by Sabatini and Cesare Borgia: A
Biography by William Harrison Woodward (Encyclopedia World Biography 2004).
Borgia, Lucrezia (1480-1519) - known as a political schemer; she may have simply been used by her
father and brother (Cesare) to further their own political goals (Encyclopedia World Biography 2004).
Governor - a person who governs or exercises authoritative control over subjects etc.; a ruler. Also,
one's father.
gramophone – a record player (orig. driven by clockwork, later by electricity) for reproducing recorded
sound by the vibrations of a stylus travelling in an irregular spiral groove in a disc rotating on a turntable.
Handel - German musician and composer Georg Friedrich Handel (1685–1759).
Melba - Nellie Melba, stage name of the Australian operatic soprano Helen Mitchell (1861–1931).
mud sticks - said to mean that people are likely to believe something bad that is said about someone
even if it is not true (Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary and Thesaurus).
neuritis - inflammation of a peripheral nerve or nerves, usually with pain and loss of function. Also gen.,
neuropathy.

red herring - something intended to divert attention from a more serious question or matter; a
misleading clue, a distraction.
Rolls - Rolls-Royce; proprietary name for a type of luxury car, from Charles Stewart Rolls (1877–1910);
a thing considered to be of the highest quality.
sal volatile - Ammonium carbonate mixed with scent, sniffed as a restorative in cases of faintness or
headache, also called smelling salts.
settee - a (usually upholstered) seat for two or more people, with a back and usually arms.
spills - a thin strip of wood or a folded or twisted piece of paper used for lighting a fire, candle, or pipe.
strychnine - a highly toxic alkaloid obtained chiefly from the seeds of plants of the genus Strychnos,
especially the species nux vomica (strychnine tree), which causes contraction of the spine and
respiratory paralysis.
hyoscine hydrobromide - a narcotic poison derived from the Henbane plant; large doses will produce
delirium, dryness of the throat, coma, paralysis and death within a few hours (emedicinehealth.com).
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Tennyson - English poet Alfred (Lord) Tennyson (1809–92).
“The boy stood on the burning deck/ whence all but he had fled” - from the poem “Casabianca” by
Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1826). In the poem young Casabianca refuses to desert his post without
orders.
Victorian - resembling or typified by the attitudes attributed to the Victorian era; especially prudish,
morally strict; old-fashioned, outdated.
wizard - excellent, marvellous, wonderful; slang, early 20th century.

Suggested Classroom Activities

This section of the study guide presents before and after activities that will deepen students’
understanding of the genre of detective fiction and enhance their appreciation of Agatha Christie’s
expertise and craft.
Before the Play

The following activities allow students to gather knowledge about and experiment with a few key
characteristics of detective fiction before they view Royal MTC’s Black Coffee.

Motive, Means, Opportunity
When we take action, especially very significant actions, we usually have a reason or several reasons
that motivate us to do so; such motivations are called motives. In detective fiction, when a crime has
been committed, the criminal has a motive that instigated the crime. Discovering the various motives of
the characters involved, and then considering each motive is part of finding the solution.
In order to do something, a person needs the means to do it. In this case, the means is having the know-
how and any necessary resources. For example, when fixing a flat tire, the means to fix the tire would
include knowing how to change a tire and having the correct tools. Obviously, when considering
suspects, a sleuth needs to consider who did and who did not have the means to commit the crime.
Finally, in this section, having a motive and the means are useless without the opportunity. No matter
how ready a person is to do something, nothing will happen without the chance to make it happen. As
with motive and means, the detective must consider who had opportunity.
A suspect who has motive, means, and opportunity is a suspect worthy of very careful consideration.

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