"Dial A for Agatha" hangs its fedora in the same mansion as "Clue", "Sleuth" and "Deathtrap". A parody of age-old murder mystery tropes, starting with the groundbreaking works of Dame Agatha Christie, has provided light-hearted entertainment for generations. We hope to continue this trend with out play.
Transplanting stock characters from a bygone era to the modern world gives us the benefit of hindsight. What sensible modern reader doesn't cringe at the blatant racism and sexism doled out with such gentility in Christie's stories? Still, judging past eras by the standards of our times does not seem fair (or fun, for that matter).
For me, as the writer, the pleasure of the play lies in taking stereotypes and watching them break free from the bonds of convention. Upward mobility and meritocracy were foreign concepts in the rigid class system on display in Christie's works. A modern, comedic take, however, gives reason to push boundaries.
In addition to Dame Agatha Christie, I would like to give a shoutout to William Shakespeare, who provided the impetus for Dr. Jeffrey Tate and his obsession with the Bard's lost sonnet. Reading Shakespeare is letting honey slowly dissolve on one's tongue; the taste lingers for decades.
Sonnet 155
When tyrants from devotion blind obedience fashion
And force thee to surrender liberty's fickle temper
Resist! And paint anew its assaulted bastion
Gift fading beauty its former splendour
Love, traded for greed, the flames of devil's bargainry feeds
While greed, endless like a coiled serpent hidden lies,
To bite thee with the venom of a thousand beasts.
Thou be deathless, though enfeebled with every fresh strike
But while he freely the dear nectar of toil drinks,
And with iron-gloved hands upon enarned harvests feeds,
Time be not his ally, nor the fountain, whence salvation springs
But the messenger who blindly news of his own death brings.
If patience be a virtue, bid virtue farewell!
Hasten the end of tyrants with a generous hand.
