Sleuth, written for the
stage by
Anthony Shaffer (twin brother of
playwright Peter Shaffer), deliberately sets out to undermine its own genre, the British
drawing room murder mystery, and its human
chess game has kept audiences guessing for three decades.
Sleuth toured various towns throughout
England before finally opening at
St. Martin's Theatre,
London in February
1970. Anthony Quale played Andrew Wyke, and Keith Baxter was the original Milo Tindle. The production got great reviews, and ran for five years (2,359 performances). The original cast opened the show on
Broadway in November
1970 and it ran for 1,222 performances. (
Patrick MacNee would join the cast on Broadway). It was nominated for three
Tony awards (
direction,
lighting design, and best play) and won best play. Shaffer went on to write the
screenplay, and the film, directed by
Joseph Mankiewicz, was nominated for four
Academy Awards, including
Best Actor for Olivier and Caine.
The drawing room in the play was supposedly inspired by the Turtle Bay living room of composer Stephen Sondheim.