Murder, Margaret and the Marple mystery make a York Theatre Royal thriller

Directed by artistic director Damian Cruden, the three-hander will feature a cast of Nichola McAuliffe, Susie Blake and York actress Andrina Carroll, who has replaced Indira Joshi, after Indira had to leave rehearsals for personal reasons.

Murder, Margaret And Me explores the relationship between "Queen of Crime" Agatha Christie, played by McAuliffe, and the acting legend known as "the funniest woman alive", Margaret Rutherford, played by Blake. In the early 1960s, these two national treasures were the creative force behind one of British cinema's most successful franchises but the Miss Marple films were almost never made. Christie did not want Rutherford to bring her fabled spinster to life and Rutherford was mortified at the prospect of sullying her reputation with something as sordid as murder.

Nevertheless, as Murder, Margaret And Me records, the pair form an unlikely friendship filled with afternoon tea and gossip. Meanwhile Agatha turns detective herself as she becomes determined to unearth Rutherford's tragic and shocking secret, involving a troubled family past that was to blight her mental health. Andrina Carroll, cast as The Spinster, both narrates and leads the story, while bearing a certain resemblance to the legendary sleuth Miss Marple.

"I would reckon that maybe 80 per cent of people would not know this story, which gives a whole new inflection to your perception of these two strong women," says Nichola.

Playwright Philip Meeks

"At the time, women were meant to be young and beautiful on screen, which they still are, but I adored Margaret Rutherford. I remember seeing her in The Importance Of Being Earnest in black and white on Sunday afternoon TV and she stole the show. She was one of the reasons why I wanted to go into acting and be loved on the stage like her!"

Murder, Margaret And Me has grown from a one-woman show, presented at Harrogate Theatre in June 2013, to a three-hander. "None of us had seen it when it was a solo show, but it could have been a radio play in that form, but now it's very definitely a theatre production," says Susie, who has performed previously with Nichola in the Restoration comedy The Double Dealer circa 1996.

"That play was bl**dy hard work," recalls Nichola, without fondness. Now, however, she is delighted to be doing Meeks's play with Susie. "Philip asked me to do the first read-through of the three-hander and I said to him, 'if you ever get it on, Susie wants to play Margaret Rutherford'," she says.

"Then came the chance to work with Damian Cruden again, who I love working with, having played Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit three years ago. The word is 'serendipitous'. Happy days. What better way could we spend January and February?! I love York!"

Meeks's play is "nudged and pushed" by the character of the Spinster, the conduit between Margaret and Agatha. "The Spinster wants a happy ending so she's doing her best to make sure that happens," says Susie. "But there is mystery involving both Margaret and Agatha throughout the piece that is gradually revealed to each other."

The play is billed as a comedy thriller, both characteristics being found in the writing of Agatha Christie too. "I would say that Agatha's humour comes from her deep-rooted humanity," says Susie.

"It wasn't superficial, which is why we love it. The best comedy comes from recognisable truths about things going wrong, and that's why there's sadness there too as there's more to her than meets the eye, as you'll learn when you see the play, because of her extraordinary past."

Murder, Margaret And Me runs at York Theatre Royal from tomorrow until March 4. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk