{{short description|1961 mystery play by Frederick Knott}} {{about||the 1965 Australian television adaptation|Write Me a Murder (Wednesday Theatre)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox play | name = Write Me a Murder | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | writer = Frederick Knott<ref name="Cross2004">{{cite book|author=Robert Cross|title=Steven Berkoff and the Theatre of Self-Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZz8zrt518kC&pg=PA57|date=17 April 2004|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-6254-4|pages=57–}}</ref> | chorus = | characters = | mute = | setting = | premiere = 26 October 1961<ref name="Knott1962">{{cite book|author=Frederick Knott|title=Write Me a Murder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MaURdjjPQDAC&pg=PA3|date=October 1962|publisher=Dramatists Play Service Inc|isbn=978-0-8222-1279-9|pages=3–}}</ref> | place = Belasco Theatre, New York City | orig_lang = English | series = | subject = | genre = | web = }}
'''''Write Me a Murder''''' is a mystery play in three acts by Frederick Knott, which premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on October 26, 1961, presented by the Compass Productions, Inc.,<ref>{{cite book|title=World Premières: technical data|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wQ_AQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA62|year=1900|pages=1–}}</ref> directed by George Schaefer,<ref name="WeintraubWeintraub1998">{{cite book|author1=Director the Institute for the Arts and Humanities Stanley Weintraub|author2=Stanley Weintraub|title=Shaw and Other Matters: A Festschrift for Stanley Weintraub on the Occasion of His Forty-second Anniversary at the Pennsylvania State University|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iudgw2-849IC|year=1998|publisher=Susquehanna University Press|isbn=978-1-57591-008-6}}</ref> stage design by Warren Clymer, costume design by Noel Taylor.<ref>{{cite book|title=Daniel Blum's Theatre World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0FArAQAAIAAJ|year=1961|publisher=Crown Publishers}}</ref> It ran for 196 performances, closing on April 14, 1962 at the Belasco Theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/write-me-a-murder-2892|title=Write Me a Murder – Broadway Play – Original|website=Internet Broadway Database|date =|author=}}</ref>
==Plot== The play tells the story of the brothers Clive and David Rodingham, who inherit the family fortune upon the death of their father. They then meet business man Charles and his wife Julie, a would-be thriller writer. Charles is anxious to work with the brothers on property deals, and so encourages David, who is also a writer, to co-write a murder story with Julie. It isn’t long before the two concoct the perfect crime, which twisted into a reality.
==Original production== {{Unreferenced section|date=June 2025}} ''Write Me a Murder'' opened at the Belasco Theater on October 24, 1961, and it ran for 196 performances.
==Original cast== {{Unreferenced section|date=June 2025}} * James Donald as The Hon. David Rodingham * Denholm Elliott as The Hon. Clive Rodingham * Kim Hunter as Julie Sturrock * Ethel Griffies as Dr. Elizabeth Woolley * Torin Thatcher as Charles Sturrock * Robert Milli as Mr. Tibbit * Herbert Voland as Constable Hackett
==Awards== {{Unreferenced section|date=June 2025}} Knott was awarded an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Play from the Mystery Writers of America. He had won an earlier Edgar Award in this same category for ''Dial M for Murder''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:1961 plays Category:Detective, mystery and crime plays Category:Broadway plays Category:Thriller plays