Full company announced to join Henry Goodman
in
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
By Agatha Christie
Adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig
13 May – 4 June, Festival Theatre
The full company has been announced for Chichester Festival Theatre’s spectacular new staging of Agatha Christie’s masterpiece Murder on the Orient Express, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig, running from 13 May – 4 June.
Joining double Olivier Award-winner Henry Goodman as Hercule Poirot are: Marc Antolin (as Michel the Conductor), Philip Cairns (Colonel Arbuthnot), Samuel Collings (Hector MacQueen), Joanna McCallum (as Princess Dragomiroff), Taz Munyaneza (Mary Debenham), Patrick Robinson (Monsieur Bouc), Laura Rogers(Countess Andrenyi), Sara Stewart (Helen Hubbard), Joanna van Kampen (Greta Ohlsson) and Timothy Watson (Samuel Ratchett), together with Matt Addis, Kelvin Ade, Joelle Dyson, Jacqueline Tate and juvenile actors Sophie Bye and Eleanor Sebastian.
Murder on the Orient Express is directed by former CFT Artistic Director Jonathan Church (Amadeus, Singin’ in the Rain, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) and designed by Robert Jones (Oklahoma!, Mack & Mabel).
The celebrated detective Hercule Poirot boards the legendary Orient Express, enjoying the prospect of a luxurious rail journey from Istanbul to Calais in the dead of winter.
The train is surprisingly packed for the time of year; only the intervention of the manager secures Poirot a first class berth, alongside an intriguing and glittering company of international travellers.
But just after midnight, the Orient Express screeches to a halt, marooned by a snowdrift. And by morning, one passenger is dead…
Nobody can leave. A guard appears to be missing. A killer is in their midst. And Poirot must deploy his ‘little grey cells’ on the most difficult case of his career: one that will force him to question his deepest beliefs.
Henry Goodman makes a welcome return to Chichester to play Poirot, following his appearances in Yes, Prime Minister (2010) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (2012/13), also directed by Jonathan Church, and which both transferred to the West End. His many other roles encompass his Olivier Award-winning Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Roy Cohn in the UK premiere of Angels in America and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (all National Theatre), Volpone for the RSC, and Assassins for which he also won an Olivier Award at the Donmar Warehouse.
Marc Antolin last appeared at Chichester in Taken at Midnight; recent theatre credits include The Magician’s Elephant (RSC), Romantics Anonymous (Bristol Old Vic) and Little Shop of Horrors for which he received an Olivier Award nomination (Regent’s Park).
Philip Cairns’ recent stage work includes Cyrano de Bergerac (West End) and Peer Gynt (National Theatre), and on television Call The Midwife.
Samuel Collings’ TV work includes Hex and Outlander, and on stage, The Great Murder Mystery, and Othello and Macbeth (HOME Manchester/Lyric Hammersmith).
Sara Stewart returns to the Festival Theatre where she last appeared in ENRON and Heartbreak House; recent TV includes Cell 8, Father Brown, Queens of Mystery and State of the Union.
Joanna McCallum’s many Chichester appearances include A Month in the Country, The Merchant of Venice, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Cavalcade, while TV includes Doctors, New Tricks, Holby City and The Gathering Storm.
Taz Munyaneza’s credits include Our Lady of Kibeho (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and on TV The One.
Patrick Robinson appeared in King Lear with Ian McKellen at Chichester in 2017; his many TV credits include The Bill, Casualty, Death in Paradise and The Last Kingdom.
Laura Rogers previously appeared in Pressure at Chichester and on tour; recent theatre work includes The Ocean at the End of the Lane (National Theatre/West End).
Joanna van Kampen is known to a huge radio audience as Fallon in The Archers; recent theatre includes An Ideal Husband (West End) and on TV, The Outlaws.
Timothy Watson – also an alumnus of The Archers as Rob Titchener – was last seen at Chichester in Shadowlands in 2019.
Ken Ludwig has had six productions on Broadway and seven in London’s West End. His 30 plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States every night of the year. Crazy for You was on Broadway for five years, the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. Lend Me a Tenor won two Tony Awards. He has won the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Charles MacArthur Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery. His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year. His most recent plays include Pride and Prejudice, Part 2: Napoleon at Pemberley; Lady Molly of Scotland Yard; and Moriarty. For more information, visit www.kenludwig.com.
The production will have lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Adrian Sutton, sound by Christopher Shutt, movement by Lucy Hind, and casting by Gabrielle Dawes CDG.
It is sponsored by Greenwood Wealth Solutions.
Murder on the Orient Express will also run at Theatre Royal Bath from 9 – 25 June, immediately following its Chichester premiere.
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
Stage Play © 2018 Agatha Christie Limited & Ken Ludwig
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, AGATHA CHRISTIE and POIROT are registered trademarks of Agatha Christie Limited.
ENDS
Tickets from £10
cft.org.uk Box Office 01243 781312