Love From a Stranger – Director Q&A with Thomas Atkinson-Joy

Originally written in the 1930s, Agatha Christie’s Love from a Stranger is a remarkably contemporary thriller brought up to date to 2025. We’ve sat down with director Thomas Atkinson-Joy to hear what audiences have in store for our June production.

Without spoilers, can you tell us a little bit about the play?

Without spoilers? Tricky! The show follows Sophie, a young woman who has been stuck in both a fairly loveless long-distance relationship and a dead-end office job that she feels utterly trapped by. When she and her housemate win the lottery, finally she has a chance to escape and live a life of adventure. Enter Bruce, an enigmatic American who comes into her life, sweeps her off her feet, and moves them out to the country together. 

But there’s something not quite right about Bruce, and something’s not adding up. Before long, there’s trouble in paradise that could have deadly consequences…

What drew you to this particular story?

I’ve always been a big Agatha Christie fan – I remember Sunday nights squirreling myself away to watch Miss Marple on ITV (Geraldine McEwan’s Marple being my particular childhood), and I also appeared on stage the last time WT tackled a Christie story in And Then There Were None. I love her writing, her flair for the dramatic, of course, but also her ingenuity, her ability to subvert audience expectations, and perhaps in spite of its age, how remarkably fresh it still feels. 

When it comes to Love From a Stranger, it’s such a contemporary story. Culturally, we’re still dissecting turbulent relationships, coercive control, power dynamics, and of course, we’re still a nation in love with a juicy crime story. So, the chance to get to stage a show like that is one I absolutely jumped at. 

How would you describe the emotional atmosphere of the production?

It’s tense, but I suppose it’s also remarkably human. There are moments of lightness, moments of comedy, of romance, of questioning what one wants from life… but as the show goes on, it turns dark. It’s a play that grapples with some much bigger issues like greed, mania, and again, no spoilers, but murderous intent. I know the cliche is to talk about these shows as if they’re emotional roller coasters, but I suppose this feels more like slow descent. Full of tension and menace. 

What has the rehearsal process been like? 

This show has been a long time in the making. We’re taking Agatha Christie and Frank Vosper’s script and moving it forward to the modern-day to really highlight just how contemporary a story it really is. So, we did a little work on some of the references in the script (telephone lines become mobiles, that sort of thing) – but the actual rehearsal process has been a blast. We’re lucky to have a brilliant cast on board, and alongside Bailey McMenamin, our brilliant assistant director, the team have been really committed as a company to exploring character ideas, working collaboratively to tease out details, ask questions, and play around with performances to find a way of telling the story that feels really fresh and exciting. 

Without revealing any twists, what makes this production unique compared to other thrillers?

I think the big thing for me is that people always come into an Agatha Christie sort of… expecting an Agatha Christie? They expect drawing rooms, arsenic, tea with the vicar – all those traditional, slightly stuffy tropes. This production isn’t that. It’s also not a whodunit, either, but that’s not to say there’s not a delicious twist at the end. Spoilers!

How do you hope audiences will react to the show?

If I can convince even one member of the audience to come away from this thinking there’s more to an Agatha Christie story than they first thought, I’ll consider it a victory. I’d also love for audiences to enjoy the show as well – there are some big themes we’re hoping to tackle, and there’s always the risk that it comes across a little melodramatic, or even maudlin. But fundamentally, if people come away with that excited buzz of watching a thriller unfold, that would be great. 

Are you sure you can’t give us even a little hint at what happens?

No! All I’ll say is be careful what you wish for, and be careful who you trust.

Love from a Stranger opens at Wokingham Theatre on Wednesday 4 June, with the first night a private charity performance. There are still limited tickets available across the run, which can be purchased here.