We Read: 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' with the Westport Country Playhouse
From Page to Stage...
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Westport Library and Westport Country Playhouse are inviting the community to participate in a unique literary and theatrical experience through The Library’s We Read initiative.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest detective novels ever written, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has been adapted for the stage by Mark Shanahan, artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse. Shanahan will lead a discussion of his adaptation on Wednesday, July 1, from 7 to 8:30 pm in Room 210, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at the process of transforming Christie’s celebrated work into a live theatrical production.
Copies of the script are available for checkout at the Library’s patron services desk on the main level. Community members are encouraged to read the script in advance and join fellow mystery and theater enthusiasts for a conversation with the playwright himself.
The adaptation will then come to life on the Playhouse stage in “Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” directed by Shanahan, running from July 14 through August 1.
Copies of the script will be available to borrow at the patron services desk on the main level. Grab yours today and meet us in Room 210 for a one-of-a-kind book club!
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If you're participating in our 2026 Summer Reading Challenge, this book fulfills the following categories:
- A book that has a Westport connection
- A book about mistaken identity
- A book about a birth or a death
- A book that refers to another book
- A book about someone on the run
- A book with a totally unhinged character
Click here for more information on all 25 categories!
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About the Playwright
This summer, Westport Country Playhouse Artistic Director Mark Shanahan will direct the final production in the Playhouse’s 2025-26 Season — his own adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, in partnership with Agatha Christie Ltd. During the Playhouse’s 2024-25 season, he directed The 39 Steps, as well as Theatre People. For three consecutive seasons, he has directed his adaptation of the family holiday favorite, A Sherlock Carol, on the Playhouse stage.
He is the author of A Merry Little Christmas Carol, See Monsters of the Deep, the Off-Broadway and regional hit comedy The Dingdong, as well as numerous radio plays as creator of the White Heron Ghost Light series, featuring Christopher Plummer, Judith Ivey, Rhonda Ross, and other notables. Shanahan has directed at stages around the country such as Alley Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Virginia Stage, Arkansas Rep, White Heron, Mile Square Theatre, Hudson Stage, Theatre Squared, Fulton Opera House, Weston Playhouse, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Merrimack Rep, The Cape Playhouse, and many more.
As an actor, Shanahan has appeared on and Off-Broadway (The 39 Steps, Tryst, The Shaugraun, and others) and at many celebrated regional theatres. Shanahan has appeared on the Westport Country Playhouse stage in Journey’s End (2005), David Copperfield, directed by Joanne Woodward and Annie Keefe, (2005), Sedition (2007), Tryst (2008), and Around the World in 80 Days (2009), and numerous Script In Hand readings. He is also curator of the Playhouse’s Script in Hand playreading series, as well as the creator and curator of Westport Country Playhouse Radio Theater, in partnership with WSHU Public Radio.
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The Westport Library is committed to intellectual freedom, inclusivity, and lifelong learning. Our mission is to provide welcoming spaces for the free exchange of ideas. The Library does not endorse or condemn points of view, including any program content or the views expressed by presenters or participants.
