Guess Who is Going to Die Tonight

A play by Michalis Reppas and Thanassis Papathanassiou staring Katia Dandoulaki.

Creating a gripping play in which strategy, suspense and surprise are key elements is definitely not an easy thing to do. In practice, only a few playwrights have managed to create intricately plotted plays, with unexpected turns and clever reversals, French writer Robert Thomas (1930-1989) being one of them. His Piège pour un homme seul (Trap for a Lonely Man), which has become a success since its premiere in Paris in 1960, is a psychological thriller with detective story elements and a distinct scent of comedy.

In his play, Daniel Corban reports that his wife of three months, Elizabeth, has disappeared. A priest arrives, bringing Elizabeth with him; Corban insists that this woman is not his wife. All the evidence is against the distraught husband, who desperately tries to convince the inspector that a plot is woven against him; what is not discernible in the play though, is who’s the one weaving the plot.

The play is staged under the title “Guess who is Going to Die Tonight”. Michalis Reppas and Thanassis Papathanassiou have written an adaptation rather than a translation of the original play. Interfering with the characters, they replace Daniel Corban with Catherine Clement, a newly married woman who’s looking for her disappeared husband, Philip, while Father Maximin is replaced with Mrs. Nantin Preveaux, the priest’s wife. This reversal of roles is probably meant to suit the cast, offering Katia Dandoulaki the leading role. Additionally, Francois Godard - the dissatisfied client of Mrs. Clement’s missing husband - has replaced Merluche, the wandering artist of the original.

(in Greek)