Feelings hollowed out by murder mystery
UPDATE: Due the coronavirus situation, the Chattanooga Theatre Centre is postponing this weekend's opening of their production of "The Hollow" as well as other CTC activities.
Almost every person undoubtedly has some sort of space in their heart they need to fill; it’s one of the reasons we have hobbies, passions, relationships, and more. For most people, figuring out how to fill that void is not too difficult nor does it normally result in murder.
However, for one extended British family in the late 1940s, that’s a different story and you’ll see the murder mystery unfold right in front of you with the Chattanooga Theatre Centre’s upcoming production of Agatha Christie’s “The Hollow”, opening this Friday at 8 p.m.
“The Hollow” is a 1946 novel by British crime author Agatha Christie, who is also the best-selling novelist of all time. It was adapted for the stage in 1951 and, while it may be one of Christie’s lesser-known plays, it’s extremely rich in character development and has several comedic elements, making it arguably one of her more intriguing ones.
This murder mystery tells the story of a romantic love-tag of sorts in the English countryside at the Angkatell home, The Hollow, that results in a surprise murder. John Cristow finds himself in a bit of a bind when his wife, mistress, and ex-lover are all in the same place.
There are also the hosts, Sir Henry and Lucy Angkatell, visiting Angkatell cousins, Dr. Cristow, his wife, an inspector, his assistant, a maid, and a butler, only making the list of possible suspects—and romantic interests—grow longer and more confusing.
The Theatre Centre’s production is directed by guest director Bob Willie and features a cast of twelve, who started rehearsals on February 4th. They’ve been extremely dedicated to the production, so much so they’ve been rehearsing six nights a week to perfect their characters and the story development.
“Those are the things that really grabbed me in the play—the history, Christie, and the development of the characterization is so perfect. The language is incredible, and it’s a joy for actors to jump into the meat of these relationships. As a director, finding these relationships, blending them, bringing them out further, and how they’re all tied in; that advances the story in so many ways,” Willie explained.
When given a new theater assignment, Willie performs as much research as he can to understand the storyline and what encouraged the playwright to craft the performance. He said Christie is really an amazing person with a fascinating history.
He explained that Christie worked in a hospital pharmacy during World War I, which is one of the reasons she knew so much about poisons. The concept of infidelity was also not foreign to Christie as her first husband left her for another woman.
Additionally, the show is set during the collapse of the British empire, and Willie explained Christie was quite progressive when it came to her opinions on where England was headed.
“To me, what really grabbed me about this play is the difference between ‘The Hollow’ and so many of [Christie’s] other works. This is less known but I think it’s probably, from an actor and a director’s standpoint, by far the most interesting because the characterization, the relationships between all of the characters are so clearly defined and it’s a brilliant work even without the mystery and the whodunit,” said Willie.
Because the bulk of the show is focused on solving the mystery of who committed the murder, and almost everyone present may have some sort of motive, the set is essentially a living room in the Angkatell estate. While it is a murderous weekend at a country estate outside of London, the costumes are a bit extravagant, even for the 1940s.
“The name of the play is ‘The Hollow’ and, to me, there is a hollowness in the heart of just about everyone in this play that they’re trying their best to fill. They each have a yearning for peace, for a return to normalcy, and to keep the traditions of the English empire alive, and for happiness, self-satisfaction, love,” Willie explained. “And it relates to today. Everyone has a hole in their heart they need to have filled. So that’s another relation to today’s audience; everyone will see in the characters, a bit of themselves.”
“The Hollow” features both CTC veterans and slight newcomers, and Willie said one of the things he loves most about community theater is it allows him to teach as well as direct.
He strives to help the cast be the best they can be, and he said that wouldn’t be possible without the help of stage manager Rodney Strong and assistant stage manager Brittany Rogers.
The CTC’s production of “The Hollow” opens Friday at 8 p.m. and will be performed through March 29th, with evening shows Thursdays through Saturdays and matinees on Sundays.
If you’ve ever wanted to experience the classic whodunit murder mystery of Agatha Christie on stage, which will have you on the edge of your seat trying to guess the culprit, then you definitely don’t want to miss the Theatre Centre’s riveting performance of “The Hollow”.