The Hollow at the OLT: Flamboyance and Heightened Melodrama Make for an Amusing Evening

Photo by Alan Dean.

Murder can certainly disrupt a quiet weekend in the country and upset the servants. This is the first lady of the Angkatell household’s major worry when one of the houseguests, the philandering Harley Street doctor, John Cristow, is shot dead.

The killing happens after an unusually long and somewhat tedious exposition. In The Hollow, Agatha Christie’s adaptation of the 1946 novel of the same name, the whodunit doyen devotes more time than usual to nuances of character and relationships, so that the murder is close to an also-ran against such issues as estate entailment and love gained, lost and rearranged.

In the Ottawa Little Theatre production of The Hollow, director Jim McNabb has chosen to backdate the play 20 years from its original setting in the 1950s to give a little more leeway for melodrama and the magnification of the flamboyance of some of the characters. This works well with the already flamboyant Lady Angkatell (delightfully and joyfully played by Danielle Silverman) and to a lesser extent with Theresa Knowles as movie star Veronica Craye. (It is a little difficult to understand why she plays the English-born, transplanted to Hollywood actress with a deep south U.S. accent.)

Accents are also something of a problem with two of the other characters, Louis Haché as Edward and Cathy Nobleman as Midge, who sometimes seem to be concentrating so hard on the form of the words that their comfort level in their characterizations diminish.

By contrast, Stephen Liddiard is completely at ease as the head of the Angkatell household and in demonstrating indulgent affection for his dotty wife. Sam Hanson as the butler and Meghan Murphy as the housemaid in training are also believable in their roles.

Heather Archibald as Cristow’s mistress and Mary Beth Pongrac as his mousy wife carry the heaviest load as two of the people with reason to wish Cristow dead and in making their relationship with each other convincing.

Paul Gardner’s set, Bradford MacKinley’s sound design and Barry Sims’ lighting are effective in establishing the ambience of a competently presented show.

For Agatha Christie fans, this production of The Hollow — she apparently acknowledged that this was not one of her best plays — will provide an entertaining evening.

The Hollow by Agatha Christie

A Production of the Ottawa Little Theatre

Director: Jim McNabb

Set: Paul Gardner

Sound: Bradford MacKinley

Lighting: Barry Sims

Costumes: Peggy Laverty and Avalon Fotheringham

Cast:

Lady Angkatell……………………………………….Danielle Silverman

Sir Henry Angkatell……………………………………Stephen Liddiard

Henrietta……………………………………………….Heather Archibald

Midge………………………………………………….Cathy Nobleman

Gudgeon……………………………………………….Sam Hanson

Edward…………………………………………………Louis Haché

Doris……………………………………………………Meghan Murphy

Gerda Cristow………………………………………….Mary Beth Pongrac

Dr. John Cristow………………………………………Chris Cottrell

Veronica Craye…………………………………………Theresa Knowles

Inspector Colquhoun……………………………………Barry Daley

Detective Sergeant Penny……………………………….Fabian P