Review: Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on The Orient Express at Theatre Royal, Nottingham

Old-time glamour, deceit, and temptation collided in a gripping murder mystery which kept the uninitiated guessing until the end.

Known as one of Poirot’s hardest cases — for both its confusing clues and his moral dilemma on justice — it is the first time Murder on The Orient Express has toured the UK, having premiered in the US in 2017 after Christie’s novel was adapted by American playwright Ken Ludwig.

This production is brought to the stage by director Lucy Bailey, who was also at the helm of productions of Witness for The Prosecution, and And Then There Were None. Her vision for this mystery certainly doesn’t disappoint.

It’s 1934, famed detective Hercule Poirot is on board the luxurious Orient Express with a odd group of first-class passengers as it hits a snowdrift and comes to a halt — and an American tycoon is found brutally murdered in his locked cabin.

Poirot is played by Michael Maloney, who is deeply convincing as the French-speaking Belgian detective as he, for the first time, considers his verdict based on more than just forensics, and is forced to consider what justice really means.

His accent is stellar, his mannerisms endearing, and along with his sidekick — long-time friend and fellow passenger Monsieur Bouc, played by Bob Barrett — becomes a lovable double-act of old-timey jollity.

For a play about a murder, it really is startling funny between its more serious moments. In particular the scathing Russian Princess Dragomiroff (Debbie Chazen) and fanciful American Helen Hubbard (Christine Kavanagh), whose actors so cleverly portray their argumentative relationship with perfectly witty timing.

Mila Carter also delivers a masterclass in accent as the Countess Elena Andrenyi, and Rebecca Charles is believably bumbling as Greta Ohlsson.

As the mystery slowly unravels, is clear in this case it is more than just Poirot giving the performance of a lifetime.

Credit is also due to designer Mike Britton. The production is visually spectacular with an entire train carriage recreated right before the audience’s eyes. Cabins split apart, open up, and transform seamlessly as Poirot moves through the tale, with just enough realism to set the scene and enough symbolism to keep it dynamic.

Murder on The Orient Express runs at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal until April 5.