Diamond Head Theatre’s staging of “Murder on the Orient Express” arrives with an impressive pedigree. The original story has been one of Agatha Christie’s best known mystery novels ever since it was published in 1934 and it has been retold in two star-studded movies. DHT is presenting the new version created by American playwright Ken Ludwig in 2017.
Theo Coumbis stars as Christie’s beloved fictional Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. DHT veteran LeGrand Tolo Lawrence bellows his way through the role of international railroad executive Monsieur Bouc, Poirot’s friend and problem solver.
Lawrence’s broad, over-the-top performance is an appropriate part of Ludwig’s reworking of Christie’s classic whodunnit as equal parts comedy and farce rather than as a traditional dead-serious mystery. Ditto the similarly broad performances of Coumbis and Lisa Konove (Helen Hubbard). The opening night audience embraced Ludwig’s comic retelling of the story.
It begins in Istanbul where Monsieur Bouc arranges a compartment for Poirot on the Orient Express, a long-distance luxury passenger train running between Istanbul and Paris. Unfortunately for Poirot and the other passengers, the train encounters unusually heavy snow and is forced to stop somewhere in the mountains of Yugoslavia.
While the train is immobilized, a wealthy American named Samuel Ratchett is found dead in his first class passenger compartment. Ratchett had been stabbed eight times — yes, Christie fans, Ludwig reduced the number of wounds from 12 to eight — and when the murder is discovered the compartment is locked from the inside and the door is also secured with a latch chain. The window is open, but there are no footprints in the snow outside.
How did the killer get out of the compartment?
Poirot finds a pipe cleaner, a handkerchief with the letter “H” on it, two different types of matches, a charred piece of paper with a message on it, and Ratchett’s broken watch.
DHT audiences are well aware of Konove’s skills as a comic actor. Director Bryce Chaddick makes superb use of them.
Some of Konove’s best moments are when Hubbard exchanges catty one-liner insults with Princess Dragomiroff — played with similar comic flare by Fabienne Flandre-Herold.
Michal Nowicki (Colonel Arbuthnot) meets the challenges involved in maintaining a believable Scottish- English accent with, pardon the cliche, flying colors and adds another memorable performance to his list of credits. Nowicki is so effectively disguised by Maile Speetjens (hair and makeup design) that he is unrecognizable.
Set Designer Michelle A. Bisbee’s passenger train set allows the action to move from one car to another without any space wasted. John M. Cummings III (props) provides an interesting array of smaller bits and pieces essential to the action. Dawn Oshima (lighting) and Kerri Yoneda (sound) enhance the actors’ performances further with their contributions.
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“MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS”
>> Where: Diamond Head Theatre, 520 Makapuu Drive
>> When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, through Feb. 16; also at 3 p.m Feb. 1 and 8.
>> Cost: $15-$50
>> Info: 733-0274, diamondheadtheatre.com
