By TR Robertson Photos by Jim Cox
The Asolo Repertory Theatre Production of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” is now on stage at the Donald & Darlene Shiley Stage in the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center of the Old Globe in Balboa Park. The play “Murder on the Orient Express” is taken from the eighth Agatha Christie novel featuring the excentric Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Of the seventy-five novels Christie wrote, sixty-six were detective novels. She also wrote fourteen short story collections. Hercule Poirot would appear in thirty-three of the novels as well as in two plays and fifty-one short stories between 1920-1975. The first Poirot novel was The Mysterious Affair at Styles published in 1920 and the last Poirot novel, Curtain, would be Poirot’s final case published in 1975. There were some Poirot short story collections that would be published up to 1997. Agatha Christie passed away in January 1976. Poirot has also been the subject of nine movies.
The infatuation with the European sleuth centers around Poirot’s powers of deduction and ability to gather all the right information to put the hard to solve mystery he is investigating together. The main premise of the novel, Murder on the Orient Express, centers around the fact that the majority of the action takes place on a train that becomes stranded in a snow drift and the fact that Poirot has twelve suspects as he investigates the murder that was committed on the train. The beauty of playwright Ken Ludwig’s adaptation and direction of Peter Amster of “Murder on the Orient Express” is not only the story line and performance on stage but the incredible set design of several of the Pullman style train cars of the Orient Express train. Sections of the Dining Car, one of the Sleeper Cars and one of the lounges of the train flow and change with ease on stage. The train cars are beautifully designed with a bit of Art Deco and polished wood and actually brought out a “Wow” reaction and applause from the audience as the first of the train cars rotated into place. Using video and lighting techniques to create a sense of movement and snowy weather and the backstory of a previous crime are important to what happens on the train and turns the Donald & Darlene Shiley Stage magically into a train trip starting in Istanbul headed to Paris in 1934 that you will not forget. At times you feel as though you were watching a movie within a play.
Ludwig’s adaptation also makes some minor changes such as reducing the suspect list to eight individuals instead of twelve as in the novel. Without giving too much away about the search for the murderer on the train, it does involve you understanding that a previous crime was committed that led to the murder and this is the key to understanding why the individual was killed on the train. Solving “whodunit” will be up to you and Poirot and understanding the moral dilemma he finds himself in at the end of the play.
Not only is the play amazingly staged but the performance of each person in the play is outstanding. Playing the meticulous, inquisitive Poirot is Andrew Sellon, making his Old Globe debut. As the detective with the unusual mustache, he pieces each clue together with ease and confidence. Playing his friend Monsieur Bouc, the owner of the Orient Express, is David Breitbarth. Rajesh Bose portrays Marcel and Michel, one a porter at the train station and the other the assistant on the train trip. Sam Ashdown plays Colonel Arbuthnot, a man hiding several secrets. Helen Joo Lee is Mary Debenham, who has a bit of an “uppity” attitude and who seems to be with the Colonel. Mylinda Hull is Helen Hubbard, an American who talks non-stop and says what’s on her mind, usually in a funny way. Playing Hector MacQueen is Marquis D. Gibson. MacQueen is an assistant for Samuel Ratchett. Karole Foreman portrays Princess Dragomiroff, the aging Russian Princess who hates the Bolsheviks. Sophia Oberg plays Greta Ohlsson, a Swedish missionary who says she was working in Africa and assists the Princess. Ariella Kvashny portrays Countess Andrenyi, a Hungarian Countess who worked as a nurse in WW I. And last but not least is Matthew Patrick Quinn who plays Samuel Ratchett (a.k.a. John Cassetti), a man with a checkered past, a very bad attitude and the man who will be murdered. Playing Daisy Armstrong for this performance was Addison Smyres. We first see Daisy on the video screen as a young girl who was kidnapped and presumably murdered years ago. We also see her again at the very end of the play.
Assisting director Peter Amster is Scenic Designer Paul Tate dePoo III, Costume Designer Tracy Dorman, Lighting Designer JAX Messenger, Sound Designer Matthew Parker, Projection Designer Greg Emetaz, Composer Greg Coffin, Dialect Coacj Emmelyn Thayer and Production Stage Manager Anj
This do-not-miss, wonderfully produced and staged production of “Murder on the Orient Express” will be at the Old Globe Conrad Prebys Theatre Center through October 20. For tickets either call 619-234-5623 or go online to www.theoldglobe.org.
