Agatha Christie is well-known for her detective novels, short story collections and plays.
Palos Village Players stages “The Hollow” from April 26 to May 4 at Palos Park Recreation Center.
“It’s not one of her more famous works. I had not heard of the book until I read the play,” said Ken Evans, director of “The Hollow,” which is Christie’s adaptation of her novel of the same name.
“A group of people are at a recreational weekend at an English country house in the late 1940s. The house is named The Hollow. That’s how you get the title. It’s owned by a retired diplomat and his eccentric wife.
“All the guests are cousins except for one couple who is a doctor and his wife. Then a murder takes place.”
Evans, a Palos Village Players board member and part of the group’s Play Reading Committee, is no stranger to Christie’s work.
“This is the third Agatha Christie play that I’ve directed for the Palos Village Players. The other two were her most famous ones,” he said about directing 2015’s “The Mousetrap” and 2018’s “And Then There Were None.”
“When I recommended (‘The Hollow’) to the board, they said, ‘Well, you have experience with that sort of play. Will you direct?’ I couldn’t say no because the other two went very well.
“I did enjoy the other two plays. This one seemed interesting as well so I committed.”
The cast of the murder mystery includes Frankfort, Lemont, New Lenox, Oak Lawn, Orland Park and Palos Heights residents.
“With the two previous (Christie) plays we did have a couple who had come back from the first play, but this is a whole fresh set of players, which surprised me but in a positive way because they are all very talented,” said Evans of Oak Forest.
“What I like as a director is to keep the audience guessing who committed the crime.”
“The Hollow” in Palos Park stars David Bell, Christopher Cavanaugh, Ken Czechanski, Zachary Dundek, Kristel Flynn, Dana Hall, Sean Henry, Jill Jeffrey, Daniel Laubacher, Joanna Leafblad, Grace Pieczynski and Julie Thomas.
“The cast is all experienced actors. They all have really committed to their characters so it’s making it easy for me to be a director because they are taking on their characters and putting their own spin on them, which is working out well. We’re getting good synergy with the cast,” Evans said.
“I also have an experienced assistant director. Her name is Jaimey (Kennedy). She’s worked with many other theater groups in the area and she’s been very good as an assistant even though it’s her first time working with our organization.”
Evans, who retired in 2006 after teaching at the Orland Park schools Jerling Junior High and Orland Junior High, is collaborating with producers Stephen Bell, Nicole Correll and Michael Galbincea on “The Hollow.”
“(People) would be surprised at how professional our productions look,” said Evans, who first acted with Palos Village Players in 2000’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”
“We take great pains to be authentic with the way we present our plays.”
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
‘The Hollow’
When: 7:30 p.m. April 26-27 and May 3-4; 2 p.m. April 28
Where: Palos Park Recreation Center, 8901 W. 123rd St., Palos Park
Tickets: $25 adults; $23 seniors or students
Information: 877-787-8497; palosvillageplayers.com