By Jeanne Beechwood
Every autumn brings a murder mystery to the stage of Main Street Theater, 310 Main Street, Belton, located behind the Belton Museum. Artistic Director Pam Powell reports that there is always a dead body on the stage in September. This year is no different as MST produces Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee, opening Friday, September 20th.
Many of Dame Christie’s plays and movies are adaptations of her novels, but Black Coffee was originally written for the stage and was the first of her plays to welcome Hercule Poirot to the scene of the crime. Along with Poirot, Christie favorites, Captain Hastings and Inspector Japp join the sleuth to solve the crime.
In the show, the characters are retiring to the library for coffee after a formal dinner. Sir Claud reports that a formula has been stolen from his safe, a secret formula to create the atom bomb. The usual suspects surround the family, including a suave Italian blackmailer, a woman with a secret identity and others. The is one of Christie’s most gripping country house murder mysteries, with endless red herrings and subplots of infamous spies and weapons. Another popular Christie plot device occurs when all the doors are locked, and the lights are off when the murder occurs.
Main Street Theater calls Belton’s Old City Hall “home”. The stage was built in 1906 and was used by local schools which lacked gyms and stages for their students. After a major renovation in the 1970s, the front of the building became the local museum, and the rear of the building was used for various events. MST owners, Rob and Pam Powell, knew of the need for a local theater and that this historic stage would serve that need. The Powells further restored the stage in 2017.
Black Coffee is directed by local artist Jason Shipps making his directorial debut. Shipps is a graduate of Baker University, with a B.A. in Theatre. He has worked with Gladstone Theater in the Park and the Barn Players. Jason has performed with MST for the past year, most recently as Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The actors hail from the greater southern Kansas City area, from both sides of the stage line.
Black Coffee opens Friday, September 20 and runs for 3 weekends. Performances are at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees are 2:30 pm. The show closes on October 6th. Ticket prices are $18, seniors and students are $15.
Group ticket prices are available for groups over 10. Please call the theater, 816-406-9422 to reserve your seats. All ticket sales are at the door, cash, credit, debit or check.
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