Carmen Morales and Juan Meseguer Portray Two Literary Geniuses in a Drama-Driven Comedy Filled with Emotion, Humor, and Mystery.
By Susan Villa
After 112 performances, appearances in 84 cities, and more than 35,000 spectators, Dear Agatha Christie is preparing to bring its successful tour to a close. The play, written and directed by Juan Carlos Rubio, will offer its two final performances on August 4 and 5 in Madrid, as part of the Veranos de la Villa program.
Carmen Morales and Juan Meseguer star in this original theatrical production, which brings together on stage two essential figures of world literature: Agatha Christie and Benito Pérez Galdós. It is an imaginary encounter in which emotion, humor, mystery, and tension coexist until reaching an unexpected conclusion.
The play also recalls the close relationship that both authors had with the Canary Islands. Pérez Galdós was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, while Christie found in the archipelago a personal and creative refuge after one of the most difficult periods of her life. During her stay in Tenerife, she completed the writing of The Mystery of the Blue Train.
An Encounter Between Two Literary Geniuses
The story takes place in 1927, in a room at the luxurious Hotel Taoro in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife. Agatha Christie is going through one of the most painful moments of her life. The recent death of her mother and the breakdown of her marriage, caused by her husband's infidelity, have left a deep mark on the writer.
Trapped in another night of insomnia and despair, Christie is determined to make an irreversible decision to put an end to her suffering. However, her plans are interrupted by the unexpected appearance of an elegant and enigmatic gentleman who is also staying at the hotel.
The visitor is none other than Benito Pérez Galdós. An intense and surprising connection immediately emerges between the two writers. As their conversation unfolds, their secrets, fears, frustrations, desires, and contradictions come to the surface, while humor and emotion accompany the characters in an intellectually charged and deeply sensitive duel.
The question remains throughout the entire performance: will Galdós manage to change Agatha Christie's plans and save her life?
Humor, Emotion, and an Unexpected Mystery
Juan Carlos Rubio creates an 80-minute drama-driven comedy, performed without an intermission, in which he combines two of the great literary qualities of its protagonists: on the one hand, the psychological depth and ability to portray the human soul of Pérez Galdós; on the other, the mystery and suspense that made Agatha Christie the great lady of crime.
The production moves naturally between smiles and emotion. These elements are joined by touches of fantasy and an atmosphere of intrigue that leads toward a surprising ending, designed so that audiences leave the theater with the desire to keep the secret.
Carmen Morales and Juan Meseguer, Face to Face
Carmen Morales delves into the vulnerability, intelligence, and contradictions of Agatha Christie, a 36-year-old woman who, despite already enjoying recognition as a writer, desperately seeks a way out of the personal crisis threatening to destroy her.
Opposite her, Juan Meseguer portrays a 77-year-old Benito Pérez Galdós, lucid, forceful, and endowed with a critical view of the world, although less certain when confronting his own feelings and decisions.
The work of both actors sustains a production based on dialogue, complicity, and the confrontation between two exceptional personalities. The set design by Leticia Gañán and Curt Allen Wilmer recreates the room at the Hotel Taoro in which the entire story unfolds, while the lighting by José Manuel Guerra and the music and sound design by Miguel Linares reinforce the emotional and mysterious atmosphere of the narrative.
Premiering on September 8, 2024, at the Teatro Garnelo in Montilla, Córdoba, Dear Agatha Christie now reaches the end of a journey that has turned it into one of the theatrical successes of recent seasons.
The two final performances will take place on August 4 and 5 at 10:00 p.m. at the Instituto San Isidro in Madrid. Tickets are priced at €15, and doors are scheduled to open at 9:00 p.m. Official information from Veranos de la Villa confirms that the show is recommended for all audiences.
Two final opportunities to enjoy an impossible encounter between two great names in literature and to bid farewell to a production that, after captivating more than 35,000 spectators, will definitively bring down the curtain in Madrid.
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