Go Back for Murder
by Agatha Christie
at Altrincham Garrick Theatre
Reviewed by Johanna Hassouna-Smith, January 2018
Agatha Christie’s classic 1960 play has been revived with great success by the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse. Before dying in prison for supposedly poisoning her husband fifteen years ago, Caroline Crale wrote a letter to her daughter Carla professing her innocence. Carla aided by Justin Fogg, a young solicitor, persuades those present on that fatal day to return to the scene of the crime to find out what really happened.
The two act play, cross cuts between past and present to tell the story. At times, it is Christie’s writing which lets the play down, with the first act being a series of duologues retelling events of the past. Although the actors might have sped up the dialogue in this, the repetition of expository conversations felt tedious toward the end of the act. The second half re-enacts the fateful day as the characters recall events through flashback, voiceover narration and some spot-lit monologues. For this reason, the second half had more energy and pace and was undeniably more entertaining.