Two works by Agatha Christie coincide these days on the Barcelona theater billboard. These are La teranyina, at the Teatre del Raval, and Assassinat a l'Orient Express, at the Teatre Condal. So, I took advantage of the October 12 long weekend and did an intensive cozy mystery themed on the great lady of crime.
Cozy mystery is understood as the most welcoming and gentle subgenre of crime literature, in which the protagonist is a detective ---generally amateur, though not always--- who is characterized more by their deductive skills than by their abilities in fighting and firearms. It usually takes place in rural settings and with an absence of explicit scenes of violence, shootings, and sex. In other words, Mrs. Fletcher's cases in Murder, She Wrote are a textbook cozy mystery.
The cozy mystery seems to be gaining ground among lovers of crime novels, among whom I count myself. In fact, a few days ago I finished Death in the Dordogne, the first installment of Martin Walker's series starring Bruno Courrèges, chief of the municipal police of St. Denis. Although the author is British, the action takes place in a quiet village in the French department of Dordogne. It is a full-fledged cozy mystery. Walker has already published about twenty cases that have not yet been translated in our country. Now I am with the Frenchman Franz Bartelt ---also untranslated--- and his Ah, les braves gens!, starring a mediocre writer in search of fame turned detective in the small town of Puffigny.
Agatha Christie, in addition to being the great lady of crime, is also the great lady of the cozy mystery. There are dozens of authors in France and Great Britain who follow her tradition in this subgenre. It's a shame that most of them are unpublished in our country. This is not the case with Christie, who is always a guarantee. This explains why the two Barcelona theaters registered very good attendance on Sunday and Monday, taking into account the still-current capacity restrictions due to covid. And one more very hopeful fact: many young people and children among the audience.
Agatha Christie, in addition to being the great lady of crime, is also the great lady of the cozy mysteryThe Spiderweb, the play performed at the Teatre del Raval until November 14, is one of the 18 written by Christie expressly for the theater. The most famous is, without a doubt,The Mousetrap, which holds the record for continuously running in London since 1952Next year he will turn 70. The Raval theater, by the way, reminded me of the also small but charming St. Martin's in London where it breaks recordsThe Mousetrap. The play is fun and very appropriate for spending a good Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday afternoon, the days of the week it is performed.
Murder on the Orient Express is one of Agatha Christie's great classics, one of her 67 novels, in this case starring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The play being performed at the Condal is the stage adaptation that Ken Ludwig made in 2016, which manages to create the appropriate atmosphere of mystery for the unexpected final twist in the resolution of a collective crime as revenge for the murder of a 5-year-old girl in the past. Turning the stage into the carriages of the luxurious train where the action takes place was undoubtedly the great challenge, and it must be admitted that it is achieved thanks to imagination and the help of the actors themselves. It will be on display until November 21, one week longer than La teranyina.
Post-pandemic normality returns to theaters: full capacity will be allowedTomorrow, Barcelona's theaters will be able to commercialize 100% of their capacities. To celebrate it, nothing better than treating oneself to a double session of Agatha Christie. It is an excellent occasion to have a good time and also to collaborate in the reactivation of culture, one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic. Enjoy with the queen of crime. Of course, in its versioncozy.