Mrs. Christie offers audiences an imaginative, time-bending exploration of one of literary history’s most tantalizing mysteries: Agatha Christie’s real life 11-day disappearance in 1926. Directed by Associate Artistic Director Joanie Schultz and written by Heidi Armbruster, the play blends historical detail with theatrical invention, inviting audiences to consider not only what happened during those missing days but also how Christie’s life and legacy continue to resonate a century later. Much like the titular character did in her novels and stories, Mrs. Christie layers humor, sharp dialogue, and unexpected turns that invite audiences to savor both the mystery and the mischief.

At the heart of the play are two women separated by 100 years: Agatha herself, in the tumultuous days leading to her disappearance, and Lucy, a contemporary woman in 2026 navigating her own crisis. Their stories parallel and intersect in surprising ways as Lucy travels to an Agatha Christie Festival and finds herself, almost literally, following in Christie’s footsteps. Schultz describes Lucy’s journey as “a scavenger hunt of sorts, putting together clues about the disappearance of Agatha Christie,” launched by grief over her sister’s death and a desire to rediscover a sense of purpose. Her visit to the festival becomes more than a literary pilgrimage; it transforms into a fascinating, twisting mystery that pulls her deeper into Christie’s world.

The 1926 timeline draws extensively on Christie’s documented biography. At this point in her life, Christie had just lost her mother, was on the brink of divorce from her husband Archibald Christie and was beginning to establish herself as a writer — but was far from the world-famous novelist she would become. Armbruster’s script draws on this rich context, using Christie’s lived experiences to anchor the play’s imagined elements. While the disappearance itself remains, historically, a mystery, Mrs. Christie uses the gap in the record as a space for theatrical possibility, honoring what is known while embracing creative freedom to explore what might have happened emotionally and psychologically during those 11 days.

In the contemporary thread, Lucy begins as a woman adrift, unsure how to rebuild her life after loss. Through her search for Christie, she finds someone whose struggles, though separated by a century, echo her own. Both women are 37, both in the midst of significant personal upheaval, and both questioning whether reinvention is possible at this stage of life. The questions Christie faced in 1926 about identity, purpose, and reinvention are the same questions Lucy confronts in 2026, and in many ways, the ones audiences continue to grapple with today. Alongside this emotional depth, Mrs. Christie offers flashes of wit and playful twists that keep audiences smiling as they unravel the clues alongside the characters. It’s a mystery with a mischievous streak, a theatrical experience that entertains as much as it intrigues.

As the threads of the play intertwine, the production invites audiences to consider the stories women tell and the stories told about them. Christie’s life has often been reduced to her fame, her marriage, or the enigma of those missing days. Mrs. Christie restores dimension to her, portraying a smart woman navigating personal upheaval in a world rapidly reshaped by war, shifting gender expectations, and cultural transition. At the same time, Lucy’s journey reminds us that the act of searching — whether for answers, meaning, or a way forward — can be transformative in its own right.

In blending fact with fiction, history with emotional truth, and mystery with humor, Mrs. Christie offers an experience that is both suspenseful and delightful. It does not attempt to solve the disappearance outright; instead, it asks what such mysteries leave behind in those who live through them and those who inherit their stories. As audiences follow Lucy and Agatha across a century, the play becomes a testament to the enduring power of storytelling, the resilience found in reinvention, and the ways the past continues to shape the paths we forge today.