Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 14th February 2026
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
I was fortunate enough to see Fiery Angel’s production of Murder on the Orient Express last year, so I felt enormous anticipation at the return to Malvern of this great company with Death on the Nile.
At curtain up, we saw Poirot in a London street witnessing two lovers embracing and it was immediately apparent that this version was not going to be following the original rigidly. There then followed a party which, again, was not in the original book. Although not canon; this was a very clever plot ploy to set the scene and introduce the characters rapidly – so I can understand the poetic licence.
Since David Suchet’s flawless performance it must be nigh on impossible for any actor portraying our peculiar Belgian friend. Mark Hadfield did a wonderful job, imbuing the character with a lot of humour which was most welcome. The fact that Mark made one forget the inimitable Mr Suchet is a testament to how superb he was!
Every member of this wonderful cast, brought passion and drama and carried the plot forward beautifully, adding to the whole with excellent performances. But the central protagonist love triangle – Esme Hough as Jacqueline De Bellefort (spurned lover turned revenge specialist), Libby Alexanda-Cooper as Linnet Ridgeway (selfish rich girl on honeymoon) and Nye Occomore as Simon Doyle (the man in the middle of this love triangle) were especially effective, believable and odious.
Glynis Barber (playing Salome Otterbourne) was the marquee name – certainly, her acting prowess was the most familiar to me due to her wonderful portrayal of Soolin in Blakes 7. And I loved the character she brought to life on the stage tonight – a very batty thespianic match-maker who very nearly stole the show from the main characters. Bob Barrett (Colonel Race) was another total joy who lit up the stage; especially in the scenes with him and Poirot – the “here comes the denouement” bit being one of the highlights of the entire evening!
The staging was rich and sumptuous with the set being particularly effective; on two levels providing much scope for drama as seeing the actors high up had a surprisingly thrilling effect and made the most of a quite minimalistic construction. A big pat on the back then for Designer Mike Britton.
As I mentioned, there was a lot of liberties taken with the rewrite with a murder or two completely missing. Couple that with some deliberately shifty goings on designed (I’m sure) to muddy the waters with lots of fishy red herrings and this turned out to be a masterstroke (presumably) from Director Lucy Bailey, particularly if you were new to the tale, in keeping you guessing.
The ending packed a punch too (which I won’t spoil), leading to a genuinely thought provoking love monologue from our titular detective – unlike the murders it was perfectly executed and stayed with me long after the actors had left the stage! Worth attending for that alone.
So, were the unfamiliarity and changes etc worth it? You bet they were! I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable night’s entertainment and one that I highly recommend. Even better than last year’s performance, so bravo all around!