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theatre · Thursday 3 September 2026 · 8:00pm 
The Unexpected Guest - Mullingar Student Players
At Mullingar Arts Centre · Lower Mount Street, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
At Mullingar Arts Centre · Lower Mount Street, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
Mullingar Student Players open their new season with Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest at Mullingar Arts Centre, running for three nights from Thursday, 3 to Saturday, 5 September 2026. The murder mystery begins with the discovery of a body in a secluded Welsh manor and unfolds into a tale of hidden motives, family secrets and unexpected twists, one of Christie’s own favourites among the plays she wrote directly for the stage rather than adapting from a novel.
Christie built The Unexpected Guest as a stage play first, and it shows: the whole story plays out in a single manor-house drawing room, with a small cast of suspects each carrying a motive and an alibi that starts to fray under questioning. Mullingar Student Players are a long-running amateur drama group based at the arts centre, and this production continues their pattern of staging a classic mystery or comedy each autumn before the venue’s bigger touring shows take over the calendar. Expect the slow-burn plotting Christie is known for, with the reveal held back until the closing scenes. The show runs across three consecutive nights in the arts centre’s 407-seat main house.
Mullingar Arts Centre is on Lower Mount Street in Mullingar town centre, close to the Market Square. Mullingar railway station, on the Dublin to Sligo Irish Rail line, is a short walk away, and the venue is close to the town’s Dublin and Athlone bus stops. Street parking is available nearby.
The arts centre is right in the centre of town, so there is time for dinner or a browse of the shops before the curtain goes up. There is more to see and do in Mullingar and across Co. Westmeath.
Heading to Mullingar Arts Centre in Mullingar? Westmeath has plenty more to see. Read the Mullingar area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.