By: Wendy Sheard, TRP Reviewer
Murder on the Orient Express has arrived in a cloud of steam and whistles.
An adaptation by Ken Ludwig and directed by Lucy Bailey, this Christie classic has all the ingredients of an archetypal whodunit based in the golden age of rail travel. Clues abound if you know where to look, and that’s the joy of this production which blends light and dark, right and wrong, and innocence and guilt.
Unusually, it is Hercules Poirot, the famous Belgian detective, played marvellously by Michael Maloney, who sets the scene and introduces the premise of the story which takes place on the world-famous Orient Express. Poirot is travelling back to London from Istanbul when he is faced with one of his most complex cases, one which will challenge his deepest beliefs and his unwavering respect for law and order.
We meet his fellow travellers who include his old friend and director of the train company, Monsieur Bouc, and other key characters via a series of rotating vignettes, in a hotel dining room and on the busy and bustling railway platform where their journey starts. On the surface they all appear respectable with very little in common, but of course appearances are deceptive. And so, the scene is set, and what a set!
The design of the first-class railway carriages where most of the action takes place is just brilliant; the stage management of these massive props is clever, slick and impressive, adding rather than detracting from the intrigue unfolding before us. The lighting, video and sound production give a sense of being there, traversing through a snowy, winter’s night with Poirot and his travelling companions.
We feel the train suddenly shuddering to an abrupt halt after ploughing into a massive snow drift, stranding the occupants, miles from civilization, waiting for help to arrive which will take several days. It is then, in this bleak, isolated landscape, that one of the passengers is discovered murdered. A violent and disturbing end, one which requires Poirot to use all of his insight into human nature and his little grey cells to solve the mystery and identify the murderer, which he does, of course, in his unique and indomitable style.
As a long time fan of Agatha Christie, I missed the traditional Hercules Poirot who is obsessed by symmetry and order. But at the same time, it is refreshing to see a new and interesting take on such a well-known classic with Poirot’s power of deduction and knowledge of human nature remaining as strong as ever.
So, jump on board whilst you can, take a ride on the Orient Express; follow the clues, the twists and turns, and join Hercule Poirot as he cracks this unique and convoluted case.