MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

As a teenager I became hooked on the novels of Agatha Christie, initially drawn to the superb covers of the Fontana paperback editions, but very soon to the wonderful writings of a women who became known as the queen of crime writing, her carefully managed plots full of twists and tuns and of course her brilliant characterisations. What was not to love about Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

That was back in the late 1960s and  a lot of fictional blood has flowed under the bridge of crime writers since then – and I mean a lot. Detectives these days uncover the most grisly of scenes and despicable crimes and much of the work is penned by female authors too.

But Christie remains for me the queen of the genre and a short while ago director Lucy Bailey brought her production of Then There Were None to Theatre Royal Brighton. It was an eye opening rethinking of how Christie could be brought to the stage and appeal to a modern audience, beautifully designed and captivatingly performed.

This time the script has been wrought by American theatre royalty, Ken Ludwig, whose list of stage successes is immense. And from the start it is clear why the Agatha Christie Estate has entrusted adaptations to the man. The estate is an exacting organisation who guard Christie’s legacy with a firm hand, this I know from personal experience.

Murder On The Orient Express is a complex tale and for the purpose of this staging some of the characters have been lost or compressed into a tidier and more manageable assembly. It works well, had you not read the book or seen the innumerable and varyingly successful film adaptations you would not know.

Ludwig and Bailey have instilled in the whole moments of comedy. It is done assuredly but never mockingly, light touches that add to the whole in a way that Christie herself might well have approved on, after all she was never afraid of comedic moments.

And there has always been an element of comedy about her masterpiece character Hercule Poirot. Over the years we have seen so many portrayals of the Belgian sleuth, some good, some memorable and some, well some less so on both counts. Here we get a delightful new vision in the hands of Michael Maloney. His Hercule is animated and vibrant, there is a joyous excitement that he brings to the role, one that might surprise fans of the usual stolid portrayals, but for me he brings the character to life in a new and far more entertaining manner. This is a first class performance that is in no way based on previous incarnations and all the better for that.

Bob Barrett’s Monsieur Bouc brings excitable comedy to the whole that counters the darkness of the plot, his concern for the reputation of the train outweighing the actual blood soaked incident.

And Simon Cotton is certainly blood soaked in his role as the victim. It’s a full on rendering of a somewhat despicable rogue for sure. And the rest of the cast are equally impressive. Debbie Chazen’s Princess Dragomiroff is delightfully pompous, Mila Carter is excellent as the countess and Rebecca Charles whimpers and cowers brilliantly throughout.

Christine Kavanagh’s Helen Hubbard is truly arrogant and unpleasant, lasciviously making passes it anyone on trousers, loud and marvellously irritating. In contrast Iniki Mariano is reserved and controlled, seemingly the least likely… well is she and what is going on between her and the Colonel played with equal and appropriate reserve by Rishi Rian. Into the mix we have Hector MacQueen, Paul Keating delivers the part with a quiet air of innocence and fumbling charm. It works well.

Finally we have Michel the senior railway character, on a train which boasts excellent service and food but seemingly has no staff other than him. It is a giant hole in the plot but one that he plugs with a performance that Jean-Baptise Fillon carefully balances, at times deadly serious and at others dead funny with just a touch of Monsieur Hulot about it.

Lucy Bailey has again done a very fine job here, crafting Christie for a new generation and breathing fresh life into the work that until now had become a somewhat dated and disappointing vehicle that was lurching into mannered pastiche.

Finally huge amounts of the success of this work lie in the hands of designer Mike Britton. His extraordinary set is a masterpiece of ingenuity, every element delivered with exacting period realism, in what can only be described as choreographed genius. The cabins, dining room, hotel and station platform move seamlessly from place to place. The costumes sing out with both period reserve and excess, the Princess in particular waddling across the stage in a confection that resembles an explosion of velvet pelmets and fringing topped off with a deliciously silly hat.

Fiery Angel have delivered another gem and let’s hope for more of the same.

Andrew Kay

22 April

Theatre Royal Brighton

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