The Mirror Crack'd

PRESS RELEASE – Thursday 17 May 2018

IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE @theCentre / Facebook / Instagram / www.wmc.org.uk A Wales Millennium Centre and Wiltshire Creative Production THE MIRROR CRACK’D by Agatha Christie adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff Direction by Melly Still Set Design by Richard Kent Costume Design by Dinah Collin Lighting Design by Malcolm Rippeth Music & Sound Design by Jon Nicholls  AGATHA CHRISTIE’S THE MIRROR CRACK’D TO BE PRODUCED FOR THE STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE UK

 THE WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE AND WILTSHIRE CREATIVE EUROPEAN PREMIERE PRODUCTION WILL TOUR FROM FEBRUARY 2019 Wales Millennium Centre and Wiltshire Creative are thrilled to announce the first ever UK stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s much-loved Miss Marple thriller The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side. The Mirror Crack’d will be a European Premiere, opening at Salisbury Playhouse on 15 February before touring to Dublin, Cambridge and Cardiff. The Mirror Crack’d will have an Opening Night on 25 February. The iconic Marple mystery from the world’s best-selling author of all time has been adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff (Flowers for Mrs Harris, Birdsong) and directed by Melly Still (Coram Boy, My Brilliant Friend). Casting is still to be announced. Times are changing. Girls are wearing trousers and Hollywood has come to a sleepy English village in the shape of a beautiful film star. Miss Marple begins to question her place in the world until a mysterious death calls into question the past of all those present. Everyone’s version of events is different. Can Miss Marple unravel the tangle of lies?

Graeme Farrow, Artistic Director, Wales Millennium Centre said: “We are hugely excited to bring a dynamic, thoroughly modern Marple to the stage and to work again with Rachel Wagstaff and Melly Still. This is also our first collaboration with Wiltshire Creative. Co-producing across nations and regions is extremely important in order to create new work today. We hope that The Mirror Crack’d will provide Agatha Christie fans with a new twist and attract new audiences to her work”. Gareth Machin, Artistic Director, Wiltshire Creative said: “We are delighted to be working with Wales Millennium Centre for the first time and will be excited to see Rachel’s brilliant adaptation bringing the legendary Miss Marple to a new audience here in Salisbury and beyond. We are very proud to be co-producing this major project as part of our inaugural season.” Rachel Wagstaff wrote the book for multi-award-winning musical, Flowers for Mrs Harris, returning to Chichester Festival Theatre in September, directed by Daniel Evans. Her critically acclaimed adaptation of Birdsong (West End) is now on its fourth UK tour. Rachel wrote the book for new musical Only the Brave, which was produced at the Wales Millennium Centre in 2016. Most recently, Rachel co-wrote, with Duncan Abel, a stage version of Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train. Melly Still has worked as a director, choreographer, designer and adaptor for many companies including the National Theatre, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic, Hampstead Theatre, The Manchester Royal Exchange and the Young Vic. She has been nominated for Olivier and Tony awards (best director and best design). Her work has travelled throughout the UK, Europe, Scandinavia, the Far East, US and Broadway. Melly recently directed Tiger Bay the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre and Cape Town Opera. Other recent credits include: My Brilliant Friend (Rose Theatre); Cymbeline (Royal Shakespeare Company) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Glyndebourne Opera Festival). Wales Millennium Centre is a landmark arts venue and a cultural destination, which presents touring talent from across the globe as well as creating its own productions. It has created a portfolio of productions over the last decade which provide an insight into what the future might hold for the Centre, producing work from operas, play and musicals, to a major new festival, presenting work all over the world, from New York and London to Dubai, as well as across the UK. Recent productions and co-productions have included: Man to Man by Manfred Karge in a new version translated by Alexandra Wood; Only the Brave, a co- production with Soho Theatre, Daniel Sparrow Productions and Birdsong Productions; Mandela Trilogy, a UK and Ireland tour of this operatic tribute to one of the world’s most iconic figures and La Voix Humaine, an immersive chamber opera by Francis Poulenc, original lyrics from the play by Jean Cocteau. 2016 saw Wales Millennium Centre produce its first festival, The Festival of Voice - celebrating just that. The 10-day event featured over 100 performances across the city, immersing Cardiﬀ in the incredible talents of singers and performers from across the globe. In 2017 the centre produced and premiered Tiger Bay the Musical, a major new musical set in Cardiff’s Butetown at the dawn of the 20th century.

Wiltshire Creative is a new pan-arts organisation that brings together the energy and ambition of Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury International Arts Festival and Salisbury Playhouse. It is an ambitious and innovative joint arts offer that secures a bright future for audiences, artists and participants.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact Maisie Lawrence at The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657

LISTINGS

THE MIRROR CRACK’D by Agatha Christie adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff

First performance: 15 February 2019 Final performance: 6 April 2019 Opening Night: 25 February

15 February – 9 March 2019 Salisbury Playhouse Tickets on sale from 5 June 01722 320 333 www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk

12 March – 16 March 2019 Gaiety Theatre, Dublin Tickets on sale soon 0818 719388 www.gaietytheatre.ie

19– 23 March 2019 Cambridge Arts Theatre Tickets on sale soon 01223 503333 www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

26 March – 6 April 2019 New Theatre, Cardiff Tickets on sale from 6 July 029 2087 8889 www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

Wales Millennium Centre is a landmark arts venue and a cultural destination, which presents the best available touring talent from across the globe as well as creating its own productions. The Centre is a charity whose aim is to Inspire our Nation, Impress the World. This is achieved by creating inspirational and life changing experiences that broaden horizons and touring productions that showcase Wales to the world. Wales Millennium Centre has been presenting world renowned visiting productions for over a decade and, as Wales’ national arts venue, have also invested in, and introduced, a wide variety of emerging theatre, contemporary work, artists and the very best international performers.

Wales Millennium Centre has created a portfolio of productions over the last decade which provide an insight into what the future might hold for the Centre, producing work from operas, play and musicals, to a major new festival, presenting work all over the world, from New York and London to Dubai, as well as across the UK.

Recent productions and co-productions have included: Man to Man by Manfred Karge in a new version translated by Alexandra Wood; Only the Brave, a co-production with Soho Theatre, Daniel Sparrow Productions and Birdsong Productions; Mandela Trilogy, a UK and Ireland tour of this operatic tribute to one of the world’s most iconic figures and La Voix Humaine, an immersive opera by Francis Poulenc, original lyrics from the play by Jean Cocteau. 2016 saw Wales Millennium Centre produce its first festival, The Festival of Voice - celebrating what Wales is most famous for – voice. The 10-day event featured over 100 performances across the city, immersing Cardiﬀ in the incredible talents of singers and performers from across the globe. In 2017 the centre produced and premiered Tiger Bay the Musical, a major new musical set in Cardiff’s Butetown at the dawn of the 20th century.

On its 7.5 acre site in Cardiff Bay, the Centre has a 1900 seat lyric theatre, named after its founding patron Sir Donald Gordon which is designed for opera, large scale musicals, ballet and contemporary dance. Other performance spaces include the 250 seat theatre – the Weston Studio, a 160 seat cabaret venue, a dance house, a 350 seat recital hall and a state of the art recording facility - BBC Hoddinott Hall.

Wales Millennium Centre is also home to eight other cultural organisations, including Welsh National Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Literature Wales, as well as inclusive arts organisation, Hijinx Theatre and the Touch Trust.

Annually the Centre receives over 1.5 million visitors making it Wales’ number one visitor attraction. For further information about the Centre please visit: wmc.org.uk

Wales Millennium Centre is a registered charity, number – 1060458.

About Wiltshire Creative

Wiltshire Creative is rooted in, and draws inspiration from, the city of Salisbury and works beyond its boundaries and draws audiences from across the county and further afield. The creation of new work is at the heart of its programme, as it builds new relationships with audiences, artists and participants.

For more information visit www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk

About Agatha Christie Limited

Agatha Christie Limited (ACL) has been managing the literary and media rights to Agatha Christie's works around the world since 1955, working with the best talents on stage, in film, television, publishing and on digital platforms to ensure that Christie’s work continues to reach new audiences in innovative ways and to the highest standard. The company is managed by Christie’s great grandson James Prichard.

Recent theatre collaborations include the critically-acclaimed Witness for the Prosecution at County Hall in London, working with Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions, and Murder on the Orient Express adapted by Ken Ludwig, with productions at McCarter Theatre in Princeton and Hartford, Connecticut, USA. ACL also works closely with international theatre companies developing in-territory stage productions.

ACL’s recent television projects include the BBC One adaptations of Ordeal by Innocence, The Witness for the Prosecution and And Then There Were None, all produced alongside Mammoth Screen with screenplays from Sarah Phelps (Great Expectations, The Casual Vacancy).

November 2017 saw the release of 20th Century Fox’s feature film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s acclaimed mystery Murder on the Orient Express, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot and with an all-star cast. A box office hit, Murder on the Orient Express will be followed by a big screen adaptation of Death on the Nile.