The International Agatha Christie Festival

About

The next annual festival event will be a one-day celebration of Agatha Christie's birthday in Torbay on Saturday 15th September 2018. The next 5-day festival is scheduled for 11th-15th September 2019.

In celebration of Agatha Christie's birthday on Saturday 15th September, IACF is hosting across Torbay a weekend of art, talks, films, outdoor fun and special events at Torre Abbey Museum, Torquay Museum, Palace Theatre and Greenway, including a special world premiere of a never-performed early play, The Lie.

INSTALLATION | 14 SEP 18 - 16 SEP 18

ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER – SCENE ONE – HOLOLENS EDITION

Hear Agatha Christie deliver the first scene of Elephants Can Remember in her own words from 1972 and become immersed in the sight of her imagination coming to life!

Using Microsoft’s HoloLens Mixed Reality headset, audiences are immersed in the first scene from the Poirot mystery ‘Elephants Can Remember’ in a site-specific 3D audio-scape created by digital artist Scott Fletcher in collaboration with Agatha Christie Limited.

Archive recording of Agatha Christie reading her 1972 novel Elephants Can Remember is
presented alongside holographic cues for her plot points and character conversations. By
combining the immersive flexibility of the technology, historical resonance of the author reading and the subtle visual expressions presented in the atmospheric historic setting of Torre Abbey, this reimagining offers magical glimpses into Agatha Christie’s mystery in her very own words.

Scott Fletcher (Play Nicely) is an interdisciplinary artist interested in the delicate combination of digital technology with traditional art forms to create cutting-edge, well-considered and highly-original public works.

Elephants Can Remember – Scene One – HoloLens Edition can be experienced by one person at a time. The duration of the work is just under 10 minutes, and slots can be reserved by calling Torre Abbey Museum at 01803 293593. The experience is included in a general admission ticket to Torre Abbey Museum. For details click here.

“Elephants Can Remember – HoloLens Edition is a brilliantly executed piece and really sets the standard for an installed piece of AR. It worked for us adults and also rather brilliantly engaged our youngest; it was wonderfully atmospheric.” 

Project funded with the support of Arts Council England. IACF’s Agatha Christie Birthday Celebration 2018 acknowledges the generous support of Torbay Council’s Mayor’s Events Fund.

GAME, OUTDOOR | 15 SEP 18

GREENWAY FÊTE

Greenway are celebrating the anniversary of Agatha Christie’s birthday with a 1950s fête in the style of Dead Man’s Folly, Christie’s novel which was inspired by the house, gardens and surrounding landscapes of Greenway. Come and enjoy the traditional fun and games in the Walled Garden.

At the Greenway fête, traditional fête stalls and activities will be in place in honour of the 1950s setting, from a coconut shy to a plant stall, a bird of prey appearance, second-hand book stall, to games like ball-in-a-bucket. A treasure hunt trail will be paying homage to the story’s staged murder hunt.

Normal admission to Greenway applies. There will be small charges on stalls and stands for some activities.

If travelling by car, please book your parking in advance at Greenway. Or also why not enjoy the wonderful experience of travelling to Greenway by the Dart Steam Railway departing from Paignton to Greenway Halt. Full train details and services can be found here.

PERFORMANCE | 15 SEP 18

THE LIE BY AGATHA CHRISTIE

A world premiere seated, costumed script-reading of Agatha Christie’s forgotten play by an all-star cast, directed by Julius Green.

Trapped in an unhappy marriage and provoked by her husband’s obsession with her younger sister, Nan disappears from the family home for a night – with devastating consequences. A series of dramatic revelations will lead either to divorce or reconciliation; but the outcome depends on whether Nan’s sister will lie to protect her.

Agatha Christie’s extraordinary early play, which predates her famous stage thrillers, lay unread in her family’s archives until discovered by theatre producer Julius Green while researching his ground-breaking book Agatha Christie; a Life in Theatre (HarperCollins, 2015). Seemingly written in the mid-1920’s, during the breakdown of Christie’s first marriage, The Lie is an intensely personal piece of writing; a hard-hitting domestic drama which bears many of the hallmarks of her later work for the theatre, and which offers a unique insight into her complex emotional response to events in her own life at the time.

This special premiere presented by the festival as part of its Agatha Christie birthday celebration weekend across Torbay is the first time that The Lie will ever have been heard by an audience, and is presented by kind permission of Agatha Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard.

“In every life there comes a moment, one supreme and all powerful moment, when we hold our fate in our hands, to decide our entire life for good or evil…”

Tickets: £15/£12

start time: 6pm (duration: approx 2 hours including introduction)

IACF’s Agatha Christie Birthday Celebration 2018 acknowledges the generous support of Torbay Council’s Mayor’s Events Fund.

photo credit: The Christie Archive Trust

EXHIBITION, FILM, IN CONVERSATION, TALK | 16 SEP 18

CHRISTIE MYSTERY DAY

Image courtesy: The Christie Archive Trust

Torquay Museum will be celebrating Agatha Christie’s birthday in style this year when it opens its doors exclusively for a special Christie Mystery Day packed with events for fans of the Queen of Crime.

Day tickets will give guests exclusive access to five rarely seen classic film adaptations of Christie novels, eight radio plays, fascinating talks by six Christie experts, buffet lunch and culminating in a Special Event. The Christie Mystery Day will be launched by Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson.

There will also be Museum tours and access to the Christie Gallery, which includes furniture, props and costumes from ITV Studios’ adaptations of the Poirot stories, some of Christie’s personal effects, and a wealth of information about the world’s best-selling author of all time.

Recently donated Christie memorabilia will also be on show in Torquay Museum for the first time, and there will be hundreds of Christie books on sale from the Museum’s shop.

Torquay Museum’s Christie Mystery Day has been devised by noted Christie expert Dr John Curran as part of International Agatha Christie Festival’s Birthday Celebration weekend. There are a limited number of early bird tickets available, priced £30, so advance booking is recommended. Profits from this event will be used by Torquay Museum, a registered charity, to care for its internationally renowned collections, including Britain’s only Agatha Christie Gallery.

To compliment the Christie Mystery Day, Torquay Museum will additionally host a fully interactive Ancient Egyptian Murder Mystery event during the evening of 16th September, The Curse of Amenhotep. A priceless Egyptian artefact has been stolen – the Stone of Amenhotep. A murder has been committed. Is this the infamous Curse of Amenhotep or is it a robbery gone wrong? Teams of guests will work against the clock to sift through the evidence and clues scattered across the Museum’s dimly-lit galleries, piece them together and solve the mystery. Tickets for this very popular murder mystery are strictly limited and are available at a cost of £25 for a two hour experience. Book your tickets by contacting Torquay Museum on 01803 293975.

DANCE, FAMILIES, OUTDOOR | 16 SEP 18

A GARDEN PARTY TO DIE FOR

Come and celebrate Agatha Christie’s birthday weekend with a charming garden party in the stunning grounds of Torre Abbey Museum. Period costume most welcome. Expect jazz music, decadent drinks, tasty treats, a murder treasure hunt, garden games, outdoor dance, a talk by our head gardener Ali Marshall about her Agatha Christie Potent Plants Garden and a chance to view the Artists of St. Ives Exhibition.

Tickets include entry to the house and garden, the mixed reality performance, Elephants Can Remember – Scene One – HoloLens Edition, and a complimentary first drink.

GAME | 16 SEP 18

THE CURSE OF AMENHOTEP – A MURDER MYSTERY

Torquay Museum is the unique setting for an exciting and unusual fully interactive Ancient Egyptian Murder Mystery evening. A priceless Egyptian artefact has been stolen – the Stone of Amenhotep. A murder has been committed. Is this the infamous Curse of Amenhotep or is it a robbery gone wrong?

Teams of guests will work against the clock to sift through the evidence and clues scattered across the Museum’s dimly-lit galleries, piece them together and solve the mystery. All against the backdrop of galleries full of a fascinating assortment of Ancient Egyptian artefacts, including a human mummy, Agatha Christie manuscripts, sabre-toothed tiger skulls, and much more. At the end of the evening the teams will come together to see which is the first to solve the mystery of the missing Stone of Amenhotep and discover the identity of the murderer.

This fun brain-teasing evening would be ideal for singles, couples, groups of friends or colleagues. There will be five groups of 6 or 7 people at each event, but don’t worry if your group isn’t that big as the Museum will put people into teams. The evening will last for approximately two hours and there will be experts on hand to help out and give you guidance.

The Ancient Egyptian Murder Mystery evenings at Torquay Museum have attracted universal praise from guests who have had so much fun solving the mystery of the Curse of Amenhotep. BBC television’s Spotlight programme even broadcast live from our first murder mystery.

Tickets are £25 each, but please note that places are limited and sell fast, so early booking is highly recommended. Reserve your tickets by calling Torquay Museum on: 01803 293975.

Torquay Museum’s  Ancient Egyptian Murder Mystery evenings are run by experienced Exeter-based escape room specialists Red House Mysteries.