Review A thrilling look at the Queen of Crime ... Having sifted through the evidence in her personal archives both here and in the US, Christie expert Julius Green spends almost 600 pages proving the case for Dame Agatha's pole position in the pantheon of female playwrights ... Extensive quotations from unpublished and/or unperformed plays reveal a wit and nuanced understanding of human nature far beyond the novels. Daily Express Her theatrical masterpieces have made her the most successful female playwright of all time ... Now, on the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, ten new plays by her have been unearthed by British theatre producer Julius Green ... Exploring her plays from 'page to stage' he shows that Christie regarded writing books as her day job but found true creative fulfilment in the theatre. Daily Mail Green turned detective himself and scoured archives around the world to uncover a number of unpublished, unknown works ... This book is a treat. Independent --Independent About the Author JULIUS GREEN has numerous West End plays and musicals to his credit as a theatre producer and is a Fellow of the Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre, University of London. He studied history at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and in 2014 was Fellow Commoner of the College. In 2011 he produced the twelve-week Agatha Christie Theatre Festival, uniquely presenting a repertoire of Christie s complete plays as then known, and in 2006 he created the Agatha Christie Theatre Company. He has served on the Board of Management of the Society of London Theatre and the Board of Directors of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, and is a director of the Academy of Circus Arts. Green is a regular columnist for The Stage newspaper and the author of How to Produce a West End Show. He lives in Cambridge.
K**S
A stunningly well researched book
This is a terrific addition to the catalogue of books written about Agatha Christie and her works. There are many publications concentrating on Agatha Christie's life and and fiction but none has focussed entirely on her work as a theatrical dramatist. Not only does Julius Green give vast amounts of hitherto undisclosed information and insight on the creation of her plays, some very known, some more obscure, but also he has managed to unearth from dusty archives previously unknown and unpublished plays by Agatha Christie. A must have for any fan of the lady herself but also for any student of theatre. She was writing hugely successful plays at a time when playwriting was considered the territory of the male intelligentsia.NB. A note to the first reviewer of the book who wrote 'where are the notes' - I can tell him that the end notes are available at www.harpercollins.co.uk/notes/curtainup. Which is just as well, as Mr Green's book is heavy enough without the end notes.
A**R
More about the back-room boys than Agatha
650 pages to wade through and too little about AGATHA'S life in the theatre. While appreciating the need for background information I didn't want to know about Binkie Beaumont et al and was it really necessary to print so many crits in full? On the whole I feel that I wasted my time and Money.
A**R
Five Stars
Terrific
P**M
But where are the notes??
I bought this at Amazon UK even though I'm in the US because I couldn't wait to get it. I'm so glad I did! It just arrived today so I've had little time with it so far, but right off the bat I'm confused by one thing - note numbers after quotes or references, but no footnotes which correspond, and no section in the back either. Am I just missing something?Otherwise I really like this book. A solid addition to the books about Agatha Christie, and one which fills a giant hole in the information about her work.
C**O
Five Stars
not read it xmas present
V**E
thoroughly pleased with the service
This book came in a few days. Exactly as advertised, thoroughly pleased with the service. A bargain.
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