Agatha Christie is an institution. She has written 80 detective novels, many featuring Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple. Her collected sales total approximately $4 billion. Only the Bible has sold more copies. Her books have been translated into at least 56 languages. Did you know she wrote romances under the name Mary Westmascott? It's a wonder that she had time for two husbands...well, both were philanderers. Her The Mousetrap opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on November 25, 1952 and is still running.
Therefore, in an extended community of over three million that has around 40 theater venues and approximately 100 production companies, every season has at least one Agatha Christie production. This year Coronado Playhouse has mounted Spider's Web under the direction of Keith A. Anderson. Rosemary King's set is move-in perfect. Dale Goodman's light design is crisp, and sound designer Nate Bergquist sets the mood for the play. Mary Anderson and Jane Russell, as well as the cast, create the right look through their costuming. And no Christie play would be complete without an array of props (furnished by Patty Fay). Connor Terry's tech operation appears flawless. We have Vanessa Dinning and Brian Terry for the dialect training of the actors. For the most part they are successful.
Spider's Web opens with Sir Rowland Delahaye (Martin White) and Hugo Birch (Bud Emerson) in a conversation over a proper wine. It isn't long thereafter when the plot thickens with Clarissa Hailsham-Brown's (Jessica Seaman) discovery of a very dead Oliver Costello (James Steinberg in his shortest role ever), which she immediately hides, aided by her guardian, Sir Delahaye and Birch with the help of Jeremy Warrender (Frank Godinez).
Clarissa's family -- husband Henry and daughter Pippa (played by real life father daughter Brian and Diane Terry) -- get entangled into this growing web of deceit. The suspect list increases with the introduction of gardener Mildred Peake (Amanda Everett) and butler Elgin (Eric Hedberg). Could the butler have masterminded this heinous crime? It's all up to Inspector Lord (Leo Walker) and Constable Jones (Stephen McLaughlin Sr.) to stumble through.
No, I'll not be crass and reveal the culprit. This reviewer readily admits he has seen just about all of Agatha Christie that he cares to. In this production, the cast seems to have fun with the play, and they give a good rendition of a classic. Spider's Web varies from Christie's usual formula just enough to have some enjoyable twists. The ensemble successfully challenges the audience in the discovery of who-dun-it.
