sentences:  One problem was the casting of the star part of Lady Angkatell and it was Saunders who hit upon the idea of Jeanne De Casalis, a choice that Christie did not accept at first but which she later admitted was right.The play opened at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge on 10 February 1951 although Christie was absent as she was in Iraq accompanying her husband Max Mallowan on one of his archaeological expeditions.She arranged for flowers to be sent to the female members of the cast.