Written by Agatha Christie

Adapted by Ken Ludwig

Directed by Lucy Bailey

Review by Dominic Corr

Tickets from £22.50

The other classic ‘whodunnit’ after Agatha Christie’s champion stage-work, The Mousetrap, Murder on the Orient Express, has found itself adapted time and again across the mediums of film, television, gaming, and stage. But one thing remains prominent across all variations – the power of Belgian detective Hercule Poirot’s Little Grey Cells. The mixture of bloodlust and luxury accompany one another remarkably well, paired with a vicious story of revenge and Edinburgh audiences are whisked through Central and Eastern Europe.

The touring production, now making a stop in Edinburgh at the Festival Theatre, is a redoubtable production which delivers on the source material and audience expectations. Its staging is far from a comfortable, though admirable, ride, but the journey is what matters. Helmed by a terrific Michael Maloney as Poirot in Ken Ludwig’s adaptation, there’s plenty to rally behind for this stage adaptation, which, though light on a few additional bits of luggage, has plenty in the way of humour and a soupcon serving of suspense.

Much hinges on Maloney’s leading performance, which strikes a balance between the accessible and even playful Poirot and the self-obsession which makes the detective such a lasting character. Physically comedic and possessing a lighting wit of timing and delivery, the softer moments of gravitas land hard with Maloney’s delivery under Lucy Bailey’s direction. While Bob Barrett gives a much more ‘nudge-wink’ response to the humour as Poirot’s old friend Monsieur Bouc, owner of the Express, in a delightfully engaging performance. Conversely, Simon Cottons’ abhorrent ‘businessman’ Samuel Ratchett makes for the ideal victim – enough to spark a transparent (even sympathetic) motif behind each suspect.

Skittering around the stage, Mike Britton’s three-compartment train design houses a cast of rogues, royalty, conductors, and pious worriers in a well-designed manner, particularly under the atmospheric lighting from Oliver Fenwick’s lighting. Though they often step from the carriages to perform on the open stage, the entire team benefits from Leah Hausman’s strong movement direction, which starts the show more abstractly and cleverly than many would suspect. The clacking of the tracks and the low but pleasant lighting illuminating the crimson walls and dark wooded doors all mingle in this paradoxical concoction of fearful yet liminal comfort, even if it loses some of the scale on the enormity of the Festival Theatre stage.

The tonal shifts follow a similar structural division, where the humour and energy of the first act’s world-building and mystery-building eventually surrender themselves to the mercy of Poirot’s investigation antics and eventual conclusions of the latter half. It’s only here where the flow strikes a more fluid nature, as it refrains from dipping in and out of the set pieces and pausing to re-construct scenes. It’s also here where those who haven’t had much to work with outside of the comedy get to flourish with a more nuanced sense of character, as Christie’s characters come to life – particularly the once comedic-focused Debbie Chazen and Rebecca Charlesas the Princess Dragomiroff (Debbie Chazen) and her travelling companion Greta.

Joining them are other engaging performances from Mila Carter and Christine Kavanagh as Countess Elena Andrenyi and Helen Hubbard – two of the more prominent suspects in the murder of Ratchett. Though opposites in delivery, the more refined and inquisitive Countess is sold with real zeal from Carter, as Kavanagh’s obnoxious American passenger is having an enjoyable time laughing it up and pulling the spotlight. More withdrawn initially, Iniki Mariano and Rishi Rian get their powerful moments in the second act – both with a more involved presence, tapping into the story’s painful and brutal elements, often forgotten.

A comfy slipper of a show, Fiery Angel’s Murder on the Orient Express is a reliable production that will satisfy all who attend and enthral anyone who hasn’t taken a ride on the Express before. Entertaining, with a few fumbles in scale and transition to the stage, the claustrophobic nature and intimacy are lost, but in its place is a suspenseful experience of entertainment and style.

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