Agatha Christie’s witty, complex courtroom masterpiece opened in London in October 1953 after a short run in Nottingham. Though the trial pits a shrewish, manipulative wife against her weaker, ne’er-do-well husband, the nature and magnitude of her manipulation is both a study in loyalty and character, and a spectacular surprise.

The characters, including the husband’s lawyer, Sir Wilfred Robarts, are an actor’s dream: strong, smart and sophisticated. But the star is the plot, which unravels as a by-the-numbers murder/melodrama, then “ravels again the skein which the law has confidently unraveled,” as one reviewer described.

NOTE: An early version of Christie’s play was produced for television and starred Edward G. Robinson in his first TV role.