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Spider's Web (play)
''Spider's Web'' is a play by crime writer Agatha Christie. ''Spider's Web,'' which premiered in London's West End in 1954, is Agatha Christie's second most successful play (744 performances), having run longer than '' Witness for the Prosecution'', which premiered in 1953 (458 performances). It is surpassed only by Christie's record-breaking ''The Mousetrap'', which has run continuously since opening in the West End in 1952. Background ''Spider's Web'' was written at the request of its star, Margaret Lockwood, whose main body of work was in films and who had never appeared in a West End production aside from ''Peter Pan''. In 1953, Lockwood asked her agent, Herbert de Leon, to speak with Sir Peter Saunders, who was the main producer of Christie's work on the stage after the successes of ''The Hollow'' and ''The Mousetrap'', and see if Christie would be interested in writing a play for her. Saunders arranged a meeting between Christie and Lockwood at the Mirabelle restaura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery ''The Mousetrap'', which has been performed in the West End theatre, West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a nickname now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. She is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miss Marple
Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one of Christie's best-known characters and has been portrayed numerous times on screen. Her first appearance was in a short story published in '' The Royal Magazine'' in December 1927, " The Tuesday Night Club", which later became the first chapter of '' The Thirteen Problems'' (1932). Her first appearance in a full-length novel was in '' The Murder at the Vicarage'' in 1930, and her last appearance was in '' Sleeping Murder'' in 1976. Origins The character of Miss Marple is based on friends of Christie's step grandmother, Margaret Miller, née West. Christie attributed the inspiration for the character to multiple sources, stating that Miss Marple was "the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my step grandmother's Ealing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax. His early long poems Pauline: A Fragment of a Confession, ''Pauline'' (1833) and Paracelsus (poem), ''Paracelsus'' (1835) were acclaimed, but his reputation dwindled for a time – his 1840 poem Sordello (poem), ''Sordello'' was seen as wilfully obscure – and took over a decade to recover, by which time he had moved from Percy Bysshe Shelley, Shelleyan forms to a more personal style. In 1846, he married fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Elizabeth Barrett and moved to Italy. By her death in 1861, he had published the collection Men and Women (poetry collection), ''Men and Women'' (1855). His Dramatis Personæ (poetry collection), ''Dramatis Personae'' (1864) and book-leng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of political economy, political economy, education, museology, geology, botany, ornithology, literature, history, and myth. Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even The King of the Golden River, a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society. Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was Kensington System, raised under close supervision by her mother and her Comptrol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antique
An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that is old. An antique is usually an item that is collected or desirable because of its age, beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection and/or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era or time period in human history. Vintage and collectible are used to describe items that are old, but do not meet the 100-year criterion. Antiques are usually objects of the decorative arts that show some degree of craftsmanship, collectability, or an attention to design, such as a desk or an vintage car, early automobile. They are bought at antique shops, estate sales, auction houses, online auctions and other venues, or estate inherited. Antiques dealers often belong to national trade associations, many of w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign And Commonwealth Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO was itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office. The department in its various forms is responsible for representing and promoting British interests worldwide. The head of the FCDO is the Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly abbreviated to "foreign secretary". This is regarded as one of the four most prestigious positions in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet – the Great Offices of State – alongside those of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Margaret, Countess Of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret was born when her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, and she spent much of her childhood with them and her elder sister. Her life changed at the age of six, when her father succeeded to the British throne following Abdication of Edward VIII, the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. Margaret's sister became heir presumptive, with Margaret second in line to the throne. Her position in the line of succession diminished over the following decades as Elizabeth's children and grandchildren were born. During the Second World War, the two sisters stayed at Windsor Castle despite suggestions to evacuate them to Canada. During the war years, Margaret was too young to perform official duties and continued her education, being nin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from his wife's accession on 6 February 1952 until Death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, his death in 2021, making him the longest-serving royal consort in history. Philip was born in Greece into the Greek royal family, Greek and Danish royal family, Danish royal families; his family was exiled from the country when he was eighteen months old. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, when he was 18 years old. In July 1939, Philip began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, the elder daughter and heir presumptive of King George VI. During the Second World War, he served with distinction in the British Mediterranean Fleet, Mediterranean and Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She had been queen regnant of List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II, 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign, longest of any British monarch, the List of longest-reigning monarchs, second-longest of any sovereign state, and the List of female monarchs, longest of any queen regnant in history. Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon Abdication of Edward VIII, the abdic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Palace. Its intended purpose was to showcase the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy operas. The theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity. For many years, the Savoy Theatre was the home of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which continued to be run by the Carte family for over a century. Richard's son Rupert D'Oyly Carte rebuilt and modernised the theatre in 1929, and it was rebuilt again in 1993 following a fire. It is a Grade II* listed building. In addition to '' The Mikado'' and other famous Gilbert and Sullivan premières, the theatre has hosted such premières as the first public performance in England of Oscar Wilde's '' Salome'' (1931) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
