PLAYS
My current playwriting projects involve turning Agatha Christie stories that have come into the public domain (in the US) into stage plays. Here's what I've finished so far.
AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MR. QUIN
Genre: Mystery Drama Thriller
Length: Four Acts
25 Characters (minimum cast of 10, 5M/5F)
This full-length play is based on four Christie stories, each corresponding to a single act. While each act is a separate adventure, collectively they tell the story of Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite. The pair brings an unconventional approach to sleuthing: as a supernatural being, Mr. Quin always knows the solution where mysterious death is concerned, but for some reason he won't (or can't?) simply reveal what he knows. Instead he makes cryptic, seemingly random remarks that indirectly lead the mortals around him to the truth.
The mortal, in this case, is little old Mr. Satterthwaite, who has always considered himself an audience member in the theatre of life. But whenever Mr. Quin turns up, Satterthwaite suddenly finds himself in a starring role. It's quite thrilling for him—until he discovers who and what Quin really is…
The last and only adaptation with Mr. Quin was the 1928 silent film, The Passing of Mr. Quinn, in which the title character was turned into a villain. It's now a lost film. Mr. Satterthwaite did turn up in a couple Poirot stories, but he was always removed from the adaptations. If my play ever gets a full stage production, it will be the first true adaptation featuring one of Agatha Christie's only five recurring protagonists.
The stories that form the basis for the plays are…
Act I: The Coming of Mr. Quin – A New Year's Eve party turns into a quest to discover the truth behind the suicide of the house's previous owner—before another tragedy occurs.
Act II: At the Bells and Motley – In the style of My Dinner with Andre, Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite discuss and try to solve the disappearance of an heiress's new husband. Mr. Satterthwaite finds himself curious as to Mr. Quin's true nature.
Act III: The Voice in the Dark – A young woman is terrorized by a ghostly voice making murderous threats. Mr. Satterthwaite is convinced the voice belongs to someone living—especially after the woman's mother is drowned in her bath.
Act IV: Harlequin's Lane – Mr. Quin substitutes for an injured dancer in a ballet, and Mr. Satterthwaite observes the drama unfolding between those involved in the production. At long last, he learns Quin's true identity, and it shatters him.
The Springfield Community Players put on a staged reading of this play in February 2025 (see below).
AGATHA CHRISTIE'S RULE OF FOUR
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Length: Four Acts
30 Characters (minimum cast of 10, 6M/4F)
In 1963, three standalone one-act plays of Christie's were produced under the bill Rule of Three. I had the idea to write a new group of plays based on her work and call it Rule of Four. My hope is to have each act feature one of her recurring detectives.
Act I: The Lemesurier Inheritance (Poirot) – This Poirot story was never truly adapted in the TV series starring David Suchet. After Hastings loses a friend in an apparent accident, Poirot is called in to prevent a family curse from claiming the life of a small boy.
Act II: The Thumb Mark of St. Peter (Miss Marple) – One of the very first Miss Marple mysteries (chronologically), the knitting Nemesis struggles to prove her niece innocent of her husband's murder.
Act III: The Love Detectives (Mr. Quin) – This play was written as the middle act in Agatha Christie's Mr. Quin, but I removed it because the show would've run too long. Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite try to find the killer of a wealthy gentleman—and keep an innocent person from being wrongfully arrested for the crime.
Act IV – I don't have a fourth act ready yet, but i'm planning to have it feature the detective duo Tommy & Tuppence.
MURDER AT THE LONE ELM*
Genre: Murder Mystery Dessert Theatre
Length: Two Acts
10 Characters
Someone is offing the guests and staff at the Lone Elm Inn, and evidence reveals that someone in the hotel is a paid assassin with a fearsome reputation.
Note: My favorite part of writing murder mystery dessert theatre plays is offering the audience a chance to interrogate the suspects. The suspects' responses are partly scripted and partly improvised. No one can predict in what order the suspects will be questioned, so each performance is different (but the story's outcome is always the same). This play was professionally produced in 2019 by Los Alamos Little Theatre, after two charity performances in 2013 at Unitarian Universalist locations in Canoga Park and Studio City, CA. The net profits of the 2019 performance exceeded six thousand dollars, the highest-grossing show of the theatre's seventy-fifth anniversary season.
Scenes from the 2019 production.
Scenes from the 2013 production.
DEATH ON THE QUARTERDECK*
Genre: Murder Mystery Dessert Theatre
Length: Two Acts
10 Characters
Someone is murdering the celebrity guests on board the Pacific Mist cruise. If amateur photographer Austin can solve the mystery, perhaps it will impress the girl he's had his eye on.
Note: In the original two charity performances of this play, at UU locations in Canoga Park and Studio City in 2012, one character was a real person, a local celebrity who portrayed himself. When this play was performed again in 2013 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Arcadia, CA (for which I received a royalty), that character was replaced by someone locally known to the new audience. Any time this play is performed, this character can take the form of any well-known celebrity of the producer's choosing, to great comedic effect (especially when the character gets killed off).
The cast of the 2012 production.
The cast of the 2013 production.
BLOOD UPON THY FACE*
Genre: Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre
Length: Two Acts
11 Characters
Accident-prone Ronnie is accused of the hit-and-run manslaughter of a wealthy man, but Ronnie's fiancée Mallory says the victim was pushed in front of the vehicle—and Ronnie knows who did it. Later Ronnie is killed by a fall from a balcony. Perhaps he was killed deliberately so he wouldn't reveal who murdered the wealthy man—except now Mallory says she made that up...
Note: I wrote this play in 2015 on commission for a New Zealand–themed restaurant in Westlake Village, CA, but it wasn't performed until 2017 at a UU charity event in Los Alamos, NM. Two previous versions of the play (under the title The Red Scarf Mystery) were performed in 2007 at Dunn Theatre in Potsdam, NY, as a college senior project, and in 2005 at the UU Church of Canton, NY, for a charity event. The title is a quotation from William Shakespeare.
Ledoux as assisting investigator Officer McIntyre.
THE WEEDKILLER MYSTERY*
Genre: Mystery/Comedy
Length: One Act
8 Characters
A forensic investigator's nightmare: When a rich tycoon is found murdered, two servants agree to cover it up, except the body disappears—several times.
Note: This play, under the title The Weed Killers, received a royalty from the Edwards Playhouse in Edwards Knox, NY, in 2007, a few months after a charity performance that same year at the UU Church in Canton, NY.
Scenes from the Edwards performance.
MAGICAL MAYHEM
Genre: Comedy/Magic
Length: Three Acts
7 Characters plus Extras
Alexander loves magic and is overjoyed to be part of a troupe of magicians. Unfortunately he's by far the worst of them, and is in danger of losing his job. Then he accidentally acquires real magical powers and becomes the hit of the show. One of the other magicians becomes jealous. When he gets powers, too, they have a magic-off.
Note: I co-wrote this play with fellow CSUN students Erin Gail Levy and Phil Nakashian.
OTHER MURDER MYSTERY DESSERT THEATRE PLAYS
(written and produced for specific locations / charity events):
MURDER AT TABLE FIVE*
2006, UU Church of Canton, NY
The lights go out and a disliked man is stabbed. How did the murderer find him in the dark?
MURDER AT FIRST SIGHT*
2011, UU Church of Studio City, CA
A vagrant is shot after he recognizes someone. Whom did he recognize?
MURDER AT TABLE SIX*
2014, UU Church of Studio City, CA
A jewel thief is poisoned and the priceless gem he was trying
to sell is missing.
Scenes from Murder at First Sight.
Note: Unlike my other murder mystery dessert theatre plays, in this one the suspects are "camouflaged" among the audience members. Instead of the audience questioning the suspects, several audience members become suspects, themselves, and the investigator questions them right along with the actors.
The cast of Murder at Table Six.
TEN-MINUTE PLAYS
(most of which were performed by the California State University, Northridge, Theatre Guild):
SHAKESPEARE INSANE
COMEDY, 3 Characters
Shakespeare's characters come to life and taunt him.
SHRINKING UNIVERSE*
COMEDY, 5 Characters
A science teacher struggles to get basic concepts across to his students (cast pictured above).
THE SEVEN STEPS OF PROCRASTINATION
COMEDY, 3 Characters
In the style of The Twilight Zone, a college student struggles to find motivation to do his homework.
A GREEK MYTH, NEW & IMPROVED*
COMEDY, 6 Characters
An irreverent take on the story of Helios and Phaëthon, with a happier ending.
A POCKET FULL OF MURDER
COMEDY/MYSTERY, 7 Characters
When a boring man is bludgeoned to death, no one can find a motive.
Note: This also exists as a radio play.
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION
THRILLER, 1 Character
A man is determined to bring justice to his wife's killer—at any cost.
OWLSHEAD THEATRE
THRILLER, 2 Characters
A man trapped backstage in a theatre starts having disturbing hallucinations.
ALARM CLOCK*
THRILLER, 5 Characters
A knife-wielding killer stalks a group of people who realize they're in someone's dream.
*Directed by Miles Ledoux.