Murder's on the Cards

CARDS on the Table is perhaps one of Agatha Christie s less well known stories – if such a thing can be said about the Queen of Crime . Originally written as a novel in 1936, it was not adapted for the stage until 1981. In the original production, the c

CARDS on the Table is perhaps one of Agatha Christie's less well known stories - if such a thing can be said about the "Queen of Crime".

Originally written as a novel in 1936, it was not adapted for the stage until 1981.

In the original production, the cast was headed by Gordon Jackson and Margaret Courtenay as the two intrepid sleuths - one professional, the other amateur.

There has recently been a television adaptation of the original novel, so perhaps the story is at last coming into its own, alongside Murder at the Vicarage and The Mousetrap.

Wanstead Players bring the play to the Kenneth More Theatre, Oakfield Road, Ilford, from Thursday.

A party host is murdered in a closed room full of bridge players. Two other guests at the dinner party - who just happen to be a police superintendent and an amateur crime writer - set about solving the murder.

The characters they encounter, the facts they uncover, the leads they follow, present a host of suspects all of whom seem to fit the profile of the murderer.

It's a classic whodunnit.

Cards on the Table runs until Saturday.