The Revenant Culture

So Maybe I'd Kill Her Too

Agatha Christie's “Appointment with Death” at Greenville Little Theatre

review by Stephanie Geter Young

No one goes to a mystery to be lectured. In fact, most of us lining up at the theatre are seeking relief from tedium. We want a romantic murder, a few luscious whodunit thrills, some alarming approximations of the British accent, and a chummy intermission spent campaigning for your own favorite suspect. Fortunately for all, Greenville Little Theatre's latest Agatha Christie, “Appointment with Death,” provides just such an evening. But what none of us bargained for, and few of us realized when we queued up for tickets, was that this play would ask us to consider some rather uncomfortable (and definitely unpopular) ideas.

Uncomfortable idea number one: there is such a thing as a completely evil person. Enter Mrs. Boynton, ex-warden and matriarch from the nether regions. Raising children (even grown children) is a sport for her—a blood sport whose end result should be mental deformity and pain. Jan Anderson's Mrs. Boynton may be a bit uneven in spots (I didn't believe her until the second act), but in this she succeeds: you will hate her. Without your even knowing it, idea number one is in the bag: people can be purely evil, and this woman is it.

Thankfully, Madame Boynton isn't the only person in the play. Dame Agatha and the GLT cast have provided us with some blessed relief in the polar opposites and rivals Lady Westholme (Patricia deVroomen in a delightfully stodgy and unFAtiguing performance) and Alderman Higgs (a jolly good showing for Robert Simms), both of whom just happen to be vacationing in the same Jerusalem hotel with the Boyntons. Their comic bickering relieves any strain the plot may have caused and clears the way for some all-out laughs by Lady Westholme's Dragoman (Jeremiah Dew, easily the steal of the show), the very clean, very Christian tour guide with a nom de guerre and a souvenir—he make you very special price—for every occasion.

But underneath all the laughing, Agatha Christie has hidden the even more uncomfortable idea number two: it's our job to put evil people to death. Mrs. Boynton drags her brood through Jerusalem and Petra (kudos for the creative set design), wreaking havoc on their budding romances, their marriages, and their sanity. (All the Boynton actors—and especially Caroline Davis—merit some extra applause for their nervous performances.) By the time they're in the middle of the desert, headed for divorce court and the sanatorium, you'll agree with the kids: “One of us has got to kill her.” I heard more than one audience member mumbling, “I'd kill her,” and so, unfortunately, would I.

Which brings us to uncomfortable idea number three—we think we want justice, but we don't know how to carry it out. We want Mrs. Boynton dead, but we hope-hope-hope it wasn't that character who did it . . . and not that one either. It can't be anyone we like, because then we'd have to admit that they've got a little bit of evil inside of them, too. But we like all the characters. I've never seen a mystery like it. We're almost as torn up and conflicted as Mrs. Boynton's offspring—and all of it over who we hope didn't do it.

I'll leave it to you to determine if Christie found her perfect villain or no. But what I will say is this: maybe these uncomfortable ideas aren't so bad after all. Maybe there is evil, and maybe it should be punished. But maybe there is something more important than both of these notions combined: we humans still crave mercy and goodness. Now that's something worth waiting in line for.

---

Agatha Christie's “Appointment with Death” directed by Suzanne McCalla, with Jan Anderson (Mrs. Boynton), Roberta Barnes (Nadine Boynton), Chris Cashon (Raymond Boynton), Michael Coupland (Colonel Carbery), Caroline Davis (Ginevra Boynton), Patricia deVroomen (Lady Westholme), Jeremiah Dew (Dragoman), Stephanie Downing (Miss Annabel Pryce), Evan Harris (Jefferson Cope), Thomas Holliday (Lennox Boynton), Sara Kosmer (Sarah King), Peter S. Lupu (Dr. Gerard), Caleb Meahl (Arab boy), Leah Meahl (Italian girl), Robert Simms (Alderman Higgs), Chris Snapp (Clerk).

Costume, and scene design by Suzanne McCalla, Lighting by Bill Rich. Presented by Greenville Little Theatre, 444 College Street; Greenville, SC 29601. (864) 233-6238. Through November 15. Tickets $25.

Published on October 31, 2008 at 2:52 pm | Permalink | 1 Comments