Telegram to Agatha Christie, Sent From Bermuda
The UK’s BBC reports that, “A telegram sent by Noel Coward to Agatha Christie has been found hidden inside an old bureau while it was being restored.”
“The message was sent from Bermuda and is dated September 1957.”
“It congratulates the writer on her play The Mousetrap breaking the record for the longest running show in London’s West End.”
“The bureau had been bought in an auction of items from Agatha Christie’s former home in South Devon.”
The telegram reads: “Dear Agatha Christie, much as it pains me I really must congratulate you on The Mousetrap breaking the long run record. All my good wishes, Noel Coward.” Mr Coward’s play ‘Blithe Spirit’ had held the previous record.
Dame Agatha Christie [1890 – 1976], was a British crime writer, and is best remembered for her dozens of detective novels —especially those featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple—and her successful West End theatre plays.
Sir Noel Coward [1899 – 1973] was a fellow writer who published more than 50 plays. Mr Coward was said to have left the UK as a ‘tax exile,’ giving up residence in England and moving to Bermuda, and later Jamaica.
‘The Mousetrap’ remains the longest running play in history, having continued on for decades after this telegram sent in 1957.
[Telegram photo courtesy of the BBC]
