Theatre / Spider’s Web, by Agatha Christie, directed by Ylaria Rogers. At Canberra Rep Theatre, until  August 9. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Once again, guessing the killer in this Agatha Christie murder mystery is unlikely.  The Queen of Crime cleverly leads the audience through an intricate plot involving hidden doorways, true and false confessions, a butler and a gardener, the Ace of Hearts and invisible ink.

As well as her many famous novels and stories, Christie wrote plays for the theatre. Spider’s Web, an original play, was written in 1953 at a peak in her play-writing period. Two other plays written by her, The Mousetrap and Witness for the Prosecution, were still running when this one opened in 1954 in London’s West End. It ran for 774 performances.

When Clarissa, the wife of a diplomat, finds a dead body in her drawing room, she needs to hide the body before her husband arrives home with an important politician. Enlisting the help of some guests, she soon finds herself caught up in an increasingly tangled web of deceit with the unexpected arrival of a detective, Inspector Lord. Even when she confesses how and why she hid the body, she finds that the police don’t believe her.

Christie’s play provides both suspense and humour as this early 1950s plot unfolds. Much of the humour comes from the eccentricities and reactions of the characters involved. As Clarissa, Siân Harrington is very amusing as the perfect hostess who descends into nervous panic as the plot tightens around her.

There is good work, too, from Terry Johnson as the Alfred Hitchcock-like Sir Rowland; Adele Lewin as Mildred Peake, the garrulous gardener; David Bennett as the stuffy butler, Elgin; Manasa Kannan as the young daughter, Pippa; Leo Amadeus as Inspector Lord and the rest of the large cast.

On the vast and cosily decorated drawing room set designed by Sarea Coates, director Ylaria Rogers, for Canberra Rep, moves the action along swiftly, bringing out the humour in the plot very well while ensuring the many characters are played with skill and depth.

Audiences enjoy trying to solve an intricate murder mystery and will have fun with this one!