Agatha Christie’s The Rose and the Yew Tree

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Drama: Agatha Christie’s The Rose and the Yew Tree

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BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Agatha Christie’s The Rose and the Yew Tree

Set in 1945, an enigmatic young woman flouts all the known rules of love and class.

Set in 1945, a recuperating soldier watches as an aristocratic enigmatic young woman flouts all the known rules of love and class in a Cornish seaside town.

Famous for her ingenious crime books and plays, Agatha Christie also wrote about crimes of the heart under the name of Mary Westmacott.  

The Rose and the Yew Tree is set in a Cornish seaside town, during the election of 1945 when it was assumed Churchill would be re-elected as Prime Minister.  It’s the story of an enigmatic young woman, Isabella, who everyone expects will marry her cousin Rupert, the returning war hero. But she becomes seemingly intrigued by the working class opportunistic parliamentary candidate, John Gabriel. 

Agatha Christie flouts all the known rules of love and class only to then reveal the tragic results of such behaviour. The play explores the true meaning of their love as it exists on its own unmatchable and uncompromising terms.

Cast:
Hugh Norreys ... Richard McCabe
Teresa Norreys/Milly Burt ... Selina Cadell
Capt. Carslake ... Jonathan Cullen
Lady St. Loo ... Avril Clark
John Gabriel ... Toby Jones
Isabella Charteris ... Ioanna Kimbook
Rupert St. Loo/ James Burt ... Stephen Critchlow

Written by Agatha Christie as Mary Westmacott
Adapted by Malcolm McKay

Sound Designer: Leon Chambers

Directed by Catherine Bailey
A Catherine Bailey production for BBC Radio 4

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