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The Hollow (play)
''The Hollow'' is a 1951 play by crime writer Agatha Christie. It is based on the 1946 book of the same name. Background In her ''Autobiography'', Christie claimed that the success of ''And Then There Were None'' set her on the path of being a playwright as well as a writer of books and that only she would adapt her works for the stage from then on, and that ''The Hollow'' would be her next play. In writing this, Christie forgot her intervening plays of ''Appointment with Death'' (1945) and ''Murder on the Nile'' (1946), in addition to Moie Charles and Barbara Toy's 1949 adaptation of ''Murder at the Vicarage''. Christie had always felt that ''The Hollow'' would make a good play, but she came up against the opposition of her daughter, Rosalind Hicks, whom Christie affectionately described as having "had the valuable role in life of eternally trying to discourage me without success". Christie was determined to turn the book, which both she and Rosalind liked, into a play, but ... [...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 writer 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 since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". 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. ''Guinness World Records'' lists Christie as 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 largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Saunders (impresario)
Sir Peter Saunders (23 November 1911 – 6 February 2003) was an English theatre impresario, notable for his production of the long-running Agatha Christie murder mystery, ''The Mousetrap''. Early life and career Saunders was born in Swiss Cottage, London. His father died in a swimming accident (with the boy on his back), and he was subsequently educated at Oundle School and in Lausanne, Switzerland, thanks to an aunt's sponsorship. Although his mother advised him to get a job with Harrods after completing his education, he instead followed his older brother, the film director Charles Saunders, into showbusiness, working at a film studio as a cameraman and director. Following spells as a newspaper reporter and press agent (to Harry Roy, among others), he served in the Second World War as an Army captain in the Intelligence Corps, and following the end of hostilities, he moved into theatre production. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mousetrap
''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on 17 May 2021. The longest-running West End show, it has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 28,915th performance having taken place as of November 2022. Attendees at St Martin's Theatre often get their photo taken beside the wooden counter (showing a count of the number of performances) in the theatre foyer. As of 2022 the play has been seen by 10 million people in London. A "Whodunit", the play has a twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre. There are eight members of the cast, and by 2012 more than 400 actors and actresses had played the roles. Richard Attenborough was the original Detective Sergeant Trotter, and his wife, Sheil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Of Teck
Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V. Born and raised in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, Mary was the daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, a German nobleman, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III and a minor member of the British royal family. She was informally known as "May", after the month of her birth. At the age of 24, she was betrothed to her second cousin once removed Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, the eldest son of the Edward VII, Prince of Wales and second in line to the throne. Six weeks after the announcement of the engagement, he died unexpectedly during an 1889–1890 pandemic, influenza pandemic. The following year, she became ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambassadors Theatre (London)
The Ambassadors Theatre (formerly the New Ambassadors Theatre), is a West End theatre located in West Street, near Cambridge Circus on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster. It is one of the smallest of the West End theatres, seating a maximum of 444, with 195 people in the dress circle and 251 in the stalls. History The theatre was, along with the adjacent St Martin's conceived by their architect, W. G. R. Sprague, as companions, born at the same time in 1913, but the First World War interrupted the construction of the latter for three years. The Ambassadors was built with the intention of being an intimate, smaller theatre and is situated opposite the renowned restaurant The Ivy, favourite haunt of the theatrical elite. The theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in March 1973. New Ambassadors era In 1996, the venue was bought by its namesake the Ambassador Theatre Group, now the largest operator of theatres in the West End. It was first split into two s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortune Theatre
The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre on Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. Since 1989 the theatre has hosted the long running play ''The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playwright and impresario Laurence Cowen, and had previously been the location of the old Albion Tavern, a public house that was frequented by Georgian and Victorian actors. The theatre is situated next to Crown Court Church, and dwarfed by the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on the opposite side of the road. Cowen commissioned architect Ernest Schaufelberg to design the theatre in an Italianate style. Constructed from 1922 to 1924, it was the first theatre to be built in London after the end of the First World War. One of the first buildings in London to experiment with concrete, its façade is principally made of bush hammered concrete, with brick piers supporting the roof. Since the demolition of the original Wembley Stadium, the theatre is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janet Morgan, Lady Balfour Of Burleigh
Janet Patricia Morgan, Lady Balfour of Burleigh CBE, FRSE (born December 1945) is a Canadian-born English writer and historian. The daughter of Dr. Frank Morgan and Sheila Saddler, she was born Janet Morgan in Montreal while her father was working on a top-secret British atomic research project, the Montreal Laboratory. She returned to England with her family before the end of World War II. She earned a MA and PhD. She was named a Commander in the Order of the British Empire in 2008. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1993, she married Robert Bruce, Lord Balfour of Burleigh. She has been chair of the Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network, the Nuclear Liabilities Fund and the Nuclear Trust. She has served as a director of the Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust and Murray International Trust. Morgan wrote a biography of Agatha Christie that was authorized by the writer's family. She also wrote biographies of Edwina Mountbatten and George Bruc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubert Gregg
Hubert Robert Harry Gregg (19 July 1914 – 29 March 2004) was a British broadcaster, writer and actor. In his later years, he was known for the BBC Radio 2 "oldies" shows ''A Square Deal'' and ''Thanks for the Memory''. He was also a novelist, theatre director and hit songwriter. Biography Gregg was born in Islington, north London. He attended St Dunstan's College and the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art. Gregg worked as an announcer for the BBC Empire Service in 1934 and 1935, while intermittently performing in repertory theatre. He appeared on Broadway in Terence Rattigan's comedy ''French Without Tears'' from 28 September 1937 to January 1938. In the Second World War, Gregg first served as a private with the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1939, before becoming an officer in the 60th Rifles the following year. He spoke German fluently, and worked for the BBC German service, to such good effect that Goebbels assumed he must be a German traitor. He was invalide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Mallowan
Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan (6 May 1904 – 19 August 1978) was a prominent British archaeologist, specialising in ancient Middle Eastern history. He was the second husband of Dame Agatha Christie. Life and work Born Edgar Mallowan in Wandsworth on 6 May 1904, he was the son of Frederick Mallowan and his wife Marguerite (née Duvivier), whose mother was mezzo-soprano Marthe Duvivier. His father's family was from Austria. He was educated at Rokeby School and Lancing College (where he was a contemporary of Evelyn Waugh) and studied classics at New College, Oxford. He first worked as an apprentice to Leonard Woolley at the archaeological site of Ur (1925–1930), which was thought to be the capital of Mesopotamian civilization. It was at the Ur site, in 1930, that he first met Agatha Christie, the famous author, whom he married the same year. In 1932, after a short time working at Nineveh with Reginald Campbell Thompson, Mallowan became a field director for a series of expedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to Iraq–Jordan border, the southwest and Syria to Iraq–Syria border, the west. The Capital city, capital and largest city is Baghdad. Iraq is home to diverse ethnic groups including Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Turkmens, Assyrian people, Assyrians, Armenians in Iraq, Armenians, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Iranians in Iraq, Persians and Shabaks, Shabakis with similarly diverse Geography of Iraq, geography and Wildlife of Iraq, wildlife. The vast majority of the country's 44 million residents are Muslims – the notable other faiths are Christianity in Iraq, Christianity, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Yarsanism and Zoroastrianism. The official langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became an important trading centre during the Roman and Viking ages, and there is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area as early as the Bronze Age. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although modern city status was not officially conferred until 1951. The city is most famous as the home of the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1209 and consistently ranks among the best universities in the world. The buildings of the university include King's College Chapel, Cavendish Laboratory, and the Cambridge University Library, one of the largest legal deposit libraries in the world. The city's skyline is dominated by several college buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeanne De Casalis
Jeanne de Casalis (22 May 1897 – 19 August 1966) was a Basutoland-born British actress of stage, radio, TV and film. Born in Basutoland as Jeanne Casalis de Pury, she was educated in France, where her businessman father was the proprietor of one of that country's largest corset retailers, ''Charneaux''. She initiated her career in music first, only later beginning to work onstage in London. She appeared on stage in ''The Mask of Virtue'' with Vivien Leigh (1935), and in Agatha Christie's ''The Hollow'' (1951). On radio, she created the popular comic character 'Mrs. Feather' and also authored ''Mrs Feather's Diary'' (1936) based on her monologues. Her best-known films were ''Cottage to Let'' (1941) and ''Jamaica Inn'' (1939). She married English actor Colin Clive, best remembered for ''Frankenstein'' (1931), in June 1929, though they were estranged for several years before his death on 25 June 1937 from tuberculosis. Her second husband, whom she married around 1938, was RAF W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
