Agatha Christie on the set of Witness for the Prosecution (1953).
‘Agatha has the gift of doing what all women want to do, but only men have the chance. She achieves something. Men climb Everest, race fast cars, invent atom bombs, fight wars, become famous surgeons and man lifeboats. In her heart every woman, too, would like to do these things. But all we can do is dream. It is all we can do. It’s a man’s world. The only consolation I get is that Agatha kills off a few of you.’
Margaret Lockwood
17 January 1954
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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London SE1 9GF
This edition published 2018
First published as Curtain Up 2015
Text © Julius Green 2015, 2018
Agatha Christie archive papers © Christie Archive Trust 2015
Agatha Christie quotations © Agatha Christie Limited 2015
Agatha Christie® Poirot® Marple® and the Agatha Christie signature are registered trademarks of Agatha Christie Limited in the UK and elsewhere. All rights reserved.
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Photographs courtesy of The Christie Archive Trust, The Shubert Archive, The University of Bristol Theatre Collection, The National Portrait Gallery, The Peter Saunders Archive, The Museum of the City of New York Theatre Collection, The Theatre Royal Bath Archive and Getty Images.
Julius Green asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780007546961
Ebook Edition © April 2018 ISBN: 9780007546954
Version: 2018-02-21
To Dianne
Contents
Act One: The People’s Playwright
Scene Two: Poirot Takes the Stage
Scene Three: Stranger and Stranger
Act Two: Saunders Saves the Day
Scene Two: The Disappearing Director
Picture Section