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Murder on the Orient Express has come to Norwich Theatre Royal this week! Find out what we thought of the show on opening night.
About the show
Winter 1934 and an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. A murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?
Starring Michael Maloney (Belfast, Young Victoria, The Crown) as the celebrated Belgian sleuth, Murder on the Orient Express is one of Agatha Christie’s greatest literary achievements, with a final twist that is amongst her very best. Gripping, tense and masterfully cryptic, this brand-new production is a deliciously thrilling ride and an ingenious murder mystery, guaranteed to keep you guessing until the end of the line.
Joining Michael Maloney, the stellar cast 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. Also in the cast are Antony Gabriel, Jasmine Raymond and Beth Tuckey.
Following a sell-out tour of the best-selling crime novel of all time, And Then There Were None, Fiery Angel and Lucy Bailey (Director of West End Witness For The Prosecution) will bring Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of another Agatha Christie classic to the stage in 2024.
What did we think?
It was only a couple of years ago that I saw my first murder mystery on stage with The Mirror Crack’d. It very quickly became one of my favourite genres of plays and I couldn’t wait to see more. Although I didn’t know the story of Murder on the Orient Express, I had heard of Hercule Poirot, and I was excited about this one.
Plot
Set in 1934, a group of passengers get ready to board the famous Orient Express train, including Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The passengers, all very different and from a variety of places, are on the journey for a variety of reasons and all have their own stories to tell. As the journey gets going, a murder happens on the train and there’s only one person able to solve the mystery… Hercule Poirot.
Cast and characters
With a cast of around a dozen, there’s quite a lot of characters to get to know in a short space of time. However, each of them are very different and they all stand out in their own right. From outspoken Russian Princess Dragomiroff (Debbie Chazen) to Michel the train conductor (Jean-Baptisete Fillion) and gangster-like Samuel Ratchett (Simon Cotton), you get a really colourful mix in this play. There’s a whole host of accents going on here too, all of which were executed perfectly.
Of course, I cannot go without mentioning the amazing Michael Maloney who plays Hercule Poirot. From the minute he appeared on the stage, he commanded it and had my absolute attention. Something I wasn’t expecting, not knowing the character much, was the humour. I loved the little humourous lines dotted throughout the play, mixed with the obvious seriousness that comes with a muder! Then, there’s the oh so French ‘Ooh la la’s’ and constant reminders that Poirot is in fact Belgian, and not French.
Set design
Murder on the Orient Express doesn’t have a lot of different locations, being mostly set on a train. There’s a mix of moving carriages, inside cabins, restaurants and train platforms, but not much else. However, these sets are done so well. Areas of the stage rotate, train carriages are swapped around to show the different areas and you’re expanded when more room was needed. I thought the set would feel small and samey and that was far from what we got. I wasn’t expecting the set of a train to be so good, but it was.
To add another dimension to the set, video is also used, above where the train stands. It’s hard to replicate a dark, loud and smokey train platform and this was a great way to add in that extra element. The video was also used to explain various other things that couldn’t be done on the stage.
Whodunnit?!
The thing with going to see a play such as this without knowing the story is that you have no idea who the murder was! I’m the kind of person who is totally into a play or story as it’s happening and I don’t often look ahead and try to guess who did it. With this play, I was happy that I didn’t guess or even try to. I would have been wrong anyway!
Something I really enjoyed, and appreciated, was that lines from earlier in the play are used to explain who the murderer was. You’re reminded of little things that people said or actions you might not remember happening. Poirot uses this to explain his theories on the murder, and remind the audience, that anyone could have been capable of such a thing.
If you only ever see one murder mystery on the stage, make it this one! Whether you are an Agatha Christie fan, Poirot fan, like the genre or have never seen a murder mystery before, you will not be disappointed with Murder on the Orient Express.