Murderous Humor: Improvising Agatha Christie

Before November 23rd, I had never been to a professional improv show. So when I walked into the Market Theater on Post Alley, (tucked in across from the iconic Pike Place Market Gum Wall) for an Agatha-Christie-inspired murder mystery improv show, I was not sure what to expect. My inner introvert was telling me to sit in the middle, where I wouldn’t be a target of unexpected calls for audience participation. However, as soon as I arrived, I instantly felt a sense of community in the theater. I had a feeling that Unexpected Productions’ performance of Murder in the Market: An Improvised Agatha Christie was going to be worth my time.  And it was. Murder in the Market is a fun, suspenseful show that incorporates Christie's traditional style with the actors’ improvised humor and wit to create a delightfully murderous show that appeals to fans and nonfans alike. 

As a fan myself, I was excited to see how the Queen of Crime’s style would be adapted into an improv show. Agatha Christie, a British mystery novelist and author of many famous who-dun-its including Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and Death on the Nile, is beloved for her unique style, brilliant plotlines, iconic characters, and instantly recognizable story elements, which the team at Unexpected Production recreated in new ways each show. 

The homage was obvious: it was all Agatha Christie from the get go. The sole male actor, an older gentleman dressed in an appropriately tweedy suit and holding a pipe, started the show by striding onto the minimalist stage to take suggestions from the audience. He began his series of rapid fire questions by asking if anyone was an Agatha Christie fan , which was met with an excited flood of yeses and ideas from the audience. Throughout the show, I was continually impressed by the actors’ ability to weave in these audience contributions from the first five minutes with foreshadowing so skillful I forgot about them until they came up again. Although he solicited general characteristics of Christie murder mysteries, the audience only decided two things about the story: the title, “Hemlock for the Holidays” and the location, a ship. After a warning that even the actors did not know who would be murdered or who the murderer was, they simply started the show. 

The show definitely drew on themes, character types, and plot elements from some of Christie’s most famous novels. There was a disgruntled divorcee; a posh elderly lady with her uptight nurse; a ship’s captain and his author fiancee; and a meddling older woman who kept track of everyone’s details in her tiny notebooks (and who apparently knew quite a few men “during the war”). There was no lack of murder-mystery evidence to uncover, such as drugs, sharp objects, and revelations of suspicious ways that characters’ pasts were connected. The first half of the show set up the backstories, then the murder was announced and the actors drew cards to decide who the murderer would be. Even the actors were guessing until the final reveal. Was it Mrs. Watkins, a Texas divorcee who happens to have needles identical to the one found stabbed through the eye of the body? Or was it Clarisse, the unhappy servant to a wealthy woman who happened to bring her extensive collection of pills — and poisons — with her on the ship? Or maybe it was the captain: the fiance of the victim who worried that she was having affairs with other men? The actors kept us guessing until the very end. They crafted an entertaining plotline while cracking jokes that kept the audience laughing. Their ability to keep track of character and plot details while making only minor slip ups (which often became jokes of the show), was astounding. It is no wonder that Unexpected Productions has been the longest running improv company in Seattle. 

However, I do think that the audience would not have minded participating more; it might have added to the show, as the actors only took suggestions at the beginning. That did not stop people from occasionally trying to shout things out during the show. The audience clearly wanted a larger part in solving the murder.

Although Murder in the Market has now finished its run for this year, Unexpected Productions has several continually running improv events as well as the upcoming holiday themed shows Falalalala, hahahaha: A Holiday Musical Extravaganza! and An Improvised Christmas Carol. Going down to the cozy theater in the dark, abandoned Pike Place market to see an unpredictable murder mystery was delightful. Anyone visiting Unexpected Productions who likes a surprise can enjoy the fun of an improvised story unfolding on stage. 

Lead photo by Bill Grinnell, courtesy of Unexpected Productions.

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