Solid Cast Turns Christie’s ‘Guest’ Into a Coup de Evil

A flashlight beam wavers nervously outside the French doors of a darkened sitting room on a fogbound night in Wales. A shadowy figure knocks loudly, then enters, following the beam of his light. What he almost stumbles over is the corpse of Mr. Warwick, the violent and irascible owner of the estate.

The unexpected guest turns on the light and finds Warwick’s beautiful young wife standing at one side, holding a pistol. After hearing her explanation of the scene, he offers to help her build an alibi--and with that, Agatha Christie has set up another of her delicious yarns.

Christie’s thrillers are always as dark as they can be. That’s as much a part of their charm as the generous dollops of humor she manages to lighten them with. None of her plays better typify her style than “The Unexpected Guest,” now in revival at the Huntington Beach Playhouse.

The labyrinthine avenues of suspicion and surmise weave in and out as the unexpected guest discovers that several people could be guilty, but each is convinced someone else did it. Christie’s puzzle is too involved to go into deeply, but, as usual, she peoples this dark setting with fascinating characters and red herrings galore.

“Guest” is director Darlene Hunter-Chaffee’s cup of tea. She knows how much dim light she must allow into the tale’s bleak corners, and exactly how to balance the humor of the piece. She keeps the tempos bright and energetic and has cast the play with insights into the careful balance of emphasis necessary between the characters.

Robert Brooke makes an equally fine puzzle of the unexpected guest, Mr. Starkwedder, whose car slid into a ditch near the mansion. Brooke’s abundant charm and attention to detail artfully disguise Starkwedder’s real reasons for being at the house; his amusement at the discovery of each red herring is a delight.

As Laura Warwick, the widow with a gun, Alice Ensor correctly keeps the tension of a tightly wound spring in her performance, a quality that plays beautifully in tandem with Brooke’s guest.

Michael Flaherty’s buoyant Inspector Thomas is a highlight, and the quirky performance of Michael McCaa as his aide, who dabbles in poetry, provides just the right balance between the two characters.

Mathew Moore is a standout as the victim’s half-brother, Jan, a young man caught in an arrested childhood. The fact that the director sometimes has him playing too much the child barely detracts from his solid portrait.

Shirley Hansing’s starchy housekeeper Miss Bennett is a typical Christie character, knowing more than she should about the family; Hansing’s restraint brings her nicely to life.

Shirl Stewart looks marvelously like the dowager the elder Mrs. Warwick should, but her surface line readings are at odds with the other performances. Greg Stich is the young politician having an affair with the widow, but he doesn’t dig very deeply into his character’s subtext either.

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* “The Unexpected Guest,” Huntington Beach Playhouse, 7111 Talbert Ave. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $11-$13. Ends Oct. 25. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Robert Brooke: Mr. Starkwedder

Alice Ensor: Laura Warwick

Michael Flaherty: Inspector Thomas

Andrew Kelley: Henry Angell

Michael McCaa: Sgt. Cadwallader

Mathew Moore: Jan Warwick

Shirley Hansing: Miss Bennett

Shirl Stewart: Mrs. Warwick

Greg Stich: Julian Farrar

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production of Agatha Christie’s thriller. Produced by Catherine Ann Stip. Associate producers: Barbara Gates & Shirl Stewart. Directed by Darlene Hunter-Chaffee. Scenic/sound design: Ed Gates. Lighting design: Gary Stamford. Costumes: Loretta Lupo. Stage manager: Kate Bolen.