A case only Hercule Poirot can unravel…

Agatha Christie fans from far and wide will be gripped and entertained at Bijou Theatre Production’s Black Coffee at the Palace Theatre in Paignton until July 31.

As family feuds ignite, old flames resurface, and a mysterious chest of poisons is uncovered, the brilliant Hercule Poirot must unravel the truth before the killer strikes again.

Black coffee was Agatha Christie’s first play, launching her second career as a playwright, and the only play she wrote featuring Hercule Poirot.

2025 is a double celebration for Bijou Theatre Productions as they mark their 70th anniversary as a theatre company and their 20th Agatha Christie season.

Bijou’s long association with the ‘Queen of Crime’ started in 1984 with Towards Zero and has included staging many of Christie’s plays including A Murder is Announced, The Hollow, Unexpected Guest and Murder on the Nile.

Hercule Poirot is played by James Mackenzie-Thorpe: ‘This is my first time playing Poirot and it's the only play that Agatha Christie wrote that features him.

Sarah Caplan is delighted to be back directing this year having Co-directed last year’s production of the Miss Marple thriller ‘A Murder is Announced’ and she couldn’t be more thrilled to get her hands on Poirot’s ‘Little Grey Cells’!: “It’s an absolute honour to be asked to direct the Agatha Christie Summer Season of ‘Black Coffee’, a play that is very dear to me having played both Lucia and Barbara Amory in previous productions.

“It is an intriguing opportunity to be on the other side of the footlights and get to play with Christie’s twisting, turning plot and household of shady characters.”

This year’s production of Black Coffee starts on Wednesday June 11 and thereafter runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings until July 31 with curtain up at 7.30pm.