There’s a reason that, almost a century since they were first written, many of Agatha Christie’s books continue to be brought back to life on stage and in star-studded film franchises. Combine a reassuring ‘cosy crime’ structure – murder occurs, twists are revealed, the truth slowly emerges, order is restored – with nostalgic period settings and immersive environments, and the appeal becomes clear. Then there is the matter of a fastidious but undeniably charming little Belgian man: one Hercule Poirot.
Mark Hadfield plays the famed detective with the requisite charisma and stage presence, plus a dash of cheekiness thrown in. This often comes to the fore in scenes with his old chum Colonel Race, played in jocular fashion by Bob Barrett, and right from the opening scene where Poirot previews his eventful trip down the Nile on a mist-laden stage, it’s clear that the audience is in good hands.
However, this is not an entirely faithful homage to the original. Writer Ken Ludwig trims a few characters – presumably to keep the narrative tight – while introducing two new additions: a highly strung museum curator with an axe to grind and a fading actor with equal reason to feel slighted.
When the cast assemble on the luxury Nile steamer – impressively designed over two levels – drama is very much guaranteed from the off. Wealthy heiress Linnet (Libby Alexandra-Cooper) and husband Simon Doyle (Nye Occomore) are on honeymoon, but the latter’s scorned ex-lover, Jacqueline – a brilliantly unstable performance by Esme Hough – has seemingly tracked them across the globe to exact her revenge.
What follows is about an hour and a half of entertaining, occasionally hammy performances – and that’s no bad thing. In fact, it feels entirely appropriate for a 1930s, character-driven crime mystery where personalities are large, the action is dramatic and every pointed glance might hide something sinister.
Director Lucy Bailey keeps the production moving at a fair pace while still giving each member of the ensemble their moment to shine. There are also some genuinely effective touches of staging, particularly during the murder itself, where shadowy outlines of the suspects appear in the slatted backdrop behind the victim as the deed unfolds. It’s a striking visual device that ramps up the tension nicely, alongside a few jumpy moments that keep the audience from becoming too comfortable.
And then, of course, comes the pièce de résistance of any Poirot tale: the denouement. Here, the assembled suspects are duly gathered to unravel the mystery in meticulous fashion, aided by clever reconstructions and small visual callbacks to help illustrate moments the audience may have overlooked along the way.
It may not reinvent the wheel or attempt any radical reinterpretation of the classic story, but sometimes you simply don’t need to. Instead, this is two hours of solid, thoroughly enjoyable theatre – a chance to sit back, relax and let an engaging plot, a colourful cast of suspects and one very precise Belgian detective do exactly what they do best.
4/5 JF
