Murder On The Orient Express Festival Theatre Edinburgh 22nd October 2024 Review
Murder on the Orient Express is at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh this week (Tue 22 to Sat 26 Oct) and if you are one of the millions of Agatha Christie fans over the years who have read the book, or seen one of the many film or television adaptations of this story, then you know what happens in the end.
Do not let this, however, put you off from going to see this stage production as this Murder On The Orient Express, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig, is a unique perspective on how to bring this work to not only a theatre, but to tour the production too. The use of on-stage space here is bold and very inventive and as this story unfolds a way has been found to bring not only the famous carriages of this train to the theatre, but also to find a way to give the illusion of it travelling too. The use of screen projections to provide the back story to this murder mystery also provides some very chilling moments.
There is something about an Agatha Christie murder mystery/whodunnit that always seems to engage us as an audience, even if we know the answers. This just proves that sometimes the journey as we watch all the clues fall into place is more important than the destination itself.
Agatha Christie stories have survived over the decades not only because the crime plots are so good, but also because she understood people at a very instinctive level, and Murder on The Orient Express provides some wonderful characters for the cast to bring to life on-stage.
Leading the cast in this production in the role of Hercule Poirot is Michael Maloney and judging by audience responses tonight, his portrayal of Christie’s Belgian detective was obviously one that they approved of.
Although Lucy Bailey (director), Mike Britton (designer), Oliver Fenwick (lighting designer), Mic Pool (sound designer) and Ian William Galloway (video designer) have created on stage the atmospheric world in which to tell this murder mystery, they have also left space for so many moments of light humour between the characters and this cast were obviously enjoying every opportunity to make those moments their own.
The full cast for this touring production includes Bob Barrett, Mila Carter, Rebecca Charles, Debbie Chazen, Simon Cotton, Jean-Baptiste Fillon, Christine Kavanagh, Paul Keating, Iniki Mariano, Rishi Rian, and Alex Stedman. To pick out the performance of any one of these actors would be unfair, as to even be in the cast of a show like this one you have to be very good at your craft.
Every character in this story was given a distinctive identity by Agatha Christie when she originally wrote this novel (first published in 1934) and everyone on stage tonight has not only given their characters their own distinctive individuality but has also added their own ideas into the mixture. In a show like this, everyone in the audience probably has their own favourite characters for many different reasons.
Watching Hercule Poirot on stage working out his murder clues in his own inimitable fashion was a pleasure to do this evening, and watching the whole story unfold on stage like this is an experience unique to theatre.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Do not let this, however, put you off from going to see this stage production as this Murder On The Orient Express, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig, is a unique perspective on how to bring this work to not only a theatre, but to tour the production too. The use of on-stage space here is bold and very inventive and as this story unfolds a way has been found to bring not only the famous carriages of this train to the theatre, but also to find a way to give the illusion of it travelling too. The use of screen projections to provide the back story to this murder mystery also provides some very chilling moments.
There is something about an Agatha Christie murder mystery/whodunnit that always seems to engage us as an audience, even if we know the answers. This just proves that sometimes the journey as we watch all the clues fall into place is more important than the destination itself.
Agatha Christie stories have survived over the decades not only because the crime plots are so good, but also because she understood people at a very instinctive level, and Murder on The Orient Express provides some wonderful characters for the cast to bring to life on-stage.
Leading the cast in this production in the role of Hercule Poirot is Michael Maloney and judging by audience responses tonight, his portrayal of Christie’s Belgian detective was obviously one that they approved of.
Although Lucy Bailey (director), Mike Britton (designer), Oliver Fenwick (lighting designer), Mic Pool (sound designer) and Ian William Galloway (video designer) have created on stage the atmospheric world in which to tell this murder mystery, they have also left space for so many moments of light humour between the characters and this cast were obviously enjoying every opportunity to make those moments their own.
The full cast for this touring production includes Bob Barrett, Mila Carter, Rebecca Charles, Debbie Chazen, Simon Cotton, Jean-Baptiste Fillon, Christine Kavanagh, Paul Keating, Iniki Mariano, Rishi Rian, and Alex Stedman. To pick out the performance of any one of these actors would be unfair, as to even be in the cast of a show like this one you have to be very good at your craft.
Every character in this story was given a distinctive identity by Agatha Christie when she originally wrote this novel (first published in 1934) and everyone on stage tonight has not only given their characters their own distinctive individuality but has also added their own ideas into the mixture. In a show like this, everyone in the audience probably has their own favourite characters for many different reasons.
Watching Hercule Poirot on stage working out his murder clues in his own inimitable fashion was a pleasure to do this evening, and watching the whole story unfold on stage like this is an experience unique to theatre.
Review by Tom King © 2024
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com