Fans of Agatha Christie, the best-selling author of all time, may want to head to Hammond where one of her plays is set to take the stage.
Hammond Community Theatre presents the suspenseful “The Unexpected Guest” from Feb. 9-18 at Beatniks on Conkey.
“This is the third Agatha Christie play I’ve directed,” said Valerie Wotkun, director of “The Unexpected Guest.”
“Someone who was in the show I did two years ago suggested this one. As soon as I read it, I thought, ‘This one’s got a lot more twists and turns.’ I guess I could say it’s a little more believable than the other two I did. They were good but I think this one will hold the suspense until the very end.”
Wotkun also directed Christie’s “And Then There Were None” in 2016 and Christie’s “The Mousetrap” in 2014 for Hammond Community Theatre.
More Top Picks Best Charcoal Sets For Women
“The Unexpected Guest” is a melodrama that premiered in 1958.
“There’s a man found dead at the beginning of the show with his wife standing there with a gun in her hand — that would be to say she did it,” said Wotkun, noting that a stranger appears and comes up with a plan to make it look like someone else committed the crime after the wife claims that she is innocent.
“As we go through family and friends, you think everybody did it. Even some of the actors who hadn’t read the whole script before thought they did it. That was fun to hear them saying, ‘I thought it was him. Then I thought it was me.’ I thought that was cute.
“My goal with all of these, like when I did ‘Mousetrap,’ is I want to hear the audience gasp. I think, ‘About this time, I should hear something,’ or even at intermission I want to hear a lot of chatter. I want them to be fooled until the very end.”
The cast includes Mark Aken, of Griffith; Linda Didelot, of Chesterton; Portage residents Aaron Duncil, Warren Duncil and Kyle Knotts; Munster residents Maggie Lerner and Mike Lerner; Don Taylor, of Hammond; Kay Wagman, of Highland; and Andy Leahy, of Chicago Heights, Illinois.
“They’re wonderful. They got into it right away. They were all very excited. A few of them have been in my Agatha Christies before. They’re very good. Everybody’s just doing a great job and it’s a lot of fun,” said Wotkun, who is president of Hammond Community Theatre.
Wotkun and her husband, John, have been members for at least 10 years of the group that aims to foster, promote and increase the public knowledge and appreciation of the arts and cultural activities in the city of Hammond, Lake County and Northwest Indiana and surrounding communities.
“We are all volunteers but we’re very supportive of each other. If someone has an idea to do something, the rest of the board rallies around and helps,” said Wotkun, noting that Beatniks on Conkey owners Bonnie and Rip Johnson are on the Hammond Community Theatre board and always willing to assist.
John Wotkun is treasurer of Hammond Community Theatre and serves as the producer and technical director for “The Unexpected Guest.” “It’s fun. He’s (John’s) very good. We have fog in the show so he’s working hard to make this fog machine not sound like it’s there,” said Valerie Wotkun.
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
‘The Unexpected Guest’
When: 8 p.m. Feb. 9-10 and 16-17; 2 p.m. Feb. 11 and 18
Where: Beatniks on Conkey, 418/420 Conkey St., Hammond
Tickets: $15
Information: 219-852-0848; hammondcommunitytheatre.org