Few authors could ever think to be as prolific as Agatha Christie. Over her lengthy career, she penned more than her fair share of murder mysteries while finding new ways to invest readers’ interest in the seediness of humanity. But how does one keep such a basic premise so fresh? Among her extensive catalog is “Five Little Pigs,” which decides to mix things up by focusing on a cold case that really ratches up the tension around the whodunnit. Is it possible that a long-dormant crime has been hiding a more insidious truth this entire time, or has time played one of its cruel tricks on the protagonist’s memory?
The book finds a perfect little home in the adapted play Go Back For Murder. Over the course of two acts, the story unfolds with the familiar introduction of characters and the slow build of uncertainty. Are these characters telling the truth, or maybe it’s hiding among a simple turn of phrase? Everyone, even the most trustworthy of subjects, has that mustache-twirling level of doubt as it becomes clear that motives aren’t always obvious. Sometimes they’re more methodical or impulsive. They’re not even always steaming underneath the collar. By centering the production around this boiling tension, Christie has crafted another perplexing tale that features an elaborate reimagining of events that, again, are based on memory and perspective that are quite faulty to begin with.
This is far from the first production that Long Beach Playhouse has put on inspired by the esteemed author. Much like Christie herself, the efforts to find fresh ways to spin a deceptively simple set prove to be part of the fun. With roundabout seating and actors entering from aisleways, there is a built-in claustrophobia that plays into the sense that some invisible force is cornering the figures, forcing them to let go of their secrets and scream to the rafters that, yes, they did it. Like other LBP productions, the melodrama is part of the fun, and the cast more than delivers the saucy attitude with enough devious undertones to keep the audience engaged.
In what may be one of the staging’s more inventive tools, most of Act I takes place in a confined portion of the stage. With two prominent halves, the actors begin in an area that is largely substituted as a makeshift office, serving as Justin Fogg’s headquarters. Compared to most detectives in Christie’s work, he’s more affectionate and conflicted, meaning that among the intimacy is flirtation and jealousy, suggesting a fallibility that seeks to sour the results. Still, the ability to turn these conversations into thrilling dialogues allows for the story to develop with a sense of mundanity without ever losing steam. It’s only in the second act that the full stage is used to convey an apartment complex, which is incorporated into a reenactment reliant on previously given clues.
There’s novelty in the approach of Go Back For Murder that keeps the suspense moving. With tonal inflections and subtle movement, there are many moments where it’s easy to get caught up in misdirection, believing that a character of good repute is secretly evil. That’s always been the charm of her mysteries, and the guilt that underlies doubt fuels the appeal of this story. While it feels more reliant on gimmicks and overcomplicated mechanics, there’s still a heart to the piece that contains the themes of being unable to let go of the past. Iconography on the stage comes to take on perverse meaning, and suddenly, innocence as a concept no longer exists.
The good news is that Long Beach Playhouse continues to do fantastic work with these murder mysteries. With a game cast that really knows how to dig into the material, it allows for the humanity to shine through certain artifice, moving it away from any stuffiness into something that’s at times camp or multi-tiered. Even if this may not be considered one of Christie’s best, they make the most of things and deliver a fun afternoon of theater that doesn’t disappoint. The twists and turns are more than enough to get one’s foot in the door. It may not be the most succinct mystery covered on that stage, but it’s still got plenty of charm to compensate.
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