Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 16th November 2024
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
Agatha Christie is like visiting an old friend. And Poirot is, arguably, her greatest and most beloved creation. As Poirot alludes to in the opening of tonight’s play, Murder On The Orient Express was his greatest case that demanded much soul searching and made him question his core beliefs.
A murder is committed on the eponymous train, which gets snowed in whist journeying from Istanbul to Paris and Agatha’s great detective is on said train, returning home after another case which tested him greatly, so gets called upon in his professional capacity to solve the crime.
Poirot is often a tough act to pull off to everyone’s satisfaction. Like Doctor Who, one loves “their” version. For many, David Suchet’s portrayal was so perfect that getting past that alone is a mammoth task! So it’s perhaps wise that this Poirot stays at a discreet distance from that iconic version. I wasn’t sure at first whether I liked Michael Maloney’s reading of the character but I was 100% won over in the end, especially with some barnstorming emotional acting in the denouement. His thoroughly enjoyable and creditably nuanced performance carried the work to a powerful conclusion.
The rest of the cast also gave fine performances and were obviously having a ball throughout – especially given the infectious seam of humour that ran through the piece. Poirot was sent up beautifully and many of the more subtle (and not so subtle) laughs were provided by a marvelous performance from Bob Barrett (as Monsieur Bouc). But everyone had their moments and the strength of this touring version is in the ensemble as a whole.
I really enjoyed the sumptuous costumes that provided glamour aplenty and effectively conveyed the characters personalities themselves. The stage design was boldly rendered with some inventive modular pieces doubling for train berths, carriageways and a dining room! The switches form one space to another also gave the opportunity to bring motion into what is a rather confined, static environment on the page. All that said, the claustrophobia of the original story was nicely conveyed too! Impressive stuff.
Music gave us a powerful backdrop too and I’m presuming that it was original music composed by Sound Designer Mic Pool as I didn’t recognize it. Last, but by no means least, a mention for the lighting and fog/steam which was so well deployed that it was almost a character in its own right. Poirot’s last moments on stage gained enormously from these elements – giving the entire work a poignant conclusion that felt absolutely perfect and totally satisfying.
Christie is always a joy but perhaps people think it not worth making the effort to venture out on a cold wintery evening just to see yet another one. Well, when the story is done so well as it was tonight, when the cast is this good and when the telling gives us a new slant we haven’t seen before (courtesy of Adapter Ken Ludwig and Director Lucy Bailey), I’d say that it’s not just worth it but nigh on essential viewing. Bravo to all concerned for a show trés magnifique.