We know whodunit. But Poirot is a surprise
Murder On The Orient Express (Chichester Festival Theatre) Verdict: Catch this train! ★★★★☆
WE ALL know whodunit on the Orient Express. So why do it again?
Possibly because Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel has never before been staged, so it is an excuse to treat the good burghers of Chichester to a lavish, old-fashioned period piece with costumes to die for.
Director Jonathan Church and stage adaptor Ken Ludwig have another intention: the reinvention of the famous little Belgian detective as not just ‘a walking brain’ but a man with a soul.
This production begins with a little girl being tucked up in bed by her devoted nanny. Aww! Then the figure of a man appears in her room and her chilling screams turn your blood to ice.
Cut to Istanbul where passengers are gathering in the railway cafe, failing to recognise Hercule Poirot, dismissing him as a ‘funny little man’ with a ‘silly moustache’.
Designer Robert Jones has turned magician: tablecloths are whisked away to reveal stacked suitcases; huge luggage trolleys become dining cars.
We are all aboard the legendary luxury train racing through a snowstorm, getting to know
ALISON BOSHOFF IS AWAY the suspects. In the past, the unmistakable moustache has been unforgettably sported by Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov and David Suchet. Henry Goodman’s dapper Poirot wears his well.
His Poirot also undoubtedly has the piercing instinct for truth and lies required for solving ‘the most difficult’ case of his career.
Indeed, a stranger to self-deprecation, he cheerfully proclaims his own genius and seizes every opportunity to display his intimate knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays. ‘The time is out of joint,’ he declares, sniffing a tension in the air.
But, much more significant, Goodman’s Poirot has an intense moral sensibility. ‘Angels and ministers of grace defend us!’ he says, again quoting from Hamlet while also revealing his own faith and troubled soul.
At the end, having solved the mystery, Goodman’s Poirot weeps and wonders aloud if he did the right thing. Wrestling with his conscience makes sleep impossible. A haunting reinterpretation, handsomely done.
■ AFTER Chichester, the orient express will call at the theatre royal, Bath, from June 9 to 25 (theatreroyal.org.uk).