Last night was my first experience of an Agatha Christie murder mystery at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. I've never been any good at guessing 'whodunit' in Murder She Wrote and Midsomer Murders on TV, and it turns out I'm no better at guessing when it's live on stage.
The story follows the passengers on a steam boat down the river Nile, and there's a murder. It's pretty self explanatory. The set is the observation deck of the boat and is beautiful in design.
The story starts off a little a slow with little action but things soon change with the introduction of Jacqueline de Severac threatening to kill newlyweds onboard. Chloe Newsome's portrayal of Jacqueline is sweet but sinister. She manages to keep you on the edge of your seat when she's got that gun in her hands.
It was great to see Dynasty legend Kate O'Mara back on stage and in the role of Miss ffoliot-ffoulkes (no capital f's). There's just something so elegant and classy about her, which she brings to her character with added humour.
Denis Lill keeps the pace of the play which at times is very dialogue-heavy. His unfolding of the mystery is most intriguing.
Other performances worthy of note are Footballer's Wives star Susie Amy as Kay Mostyn who adapts to this style of drama wonderfully and Max Hutchinson as the wise-cracking William Smith.
Another success for the Agatha Christie Theatre Company, an interesting night out at the theatre.
The play runs at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre until Saturday 26th May and continues on a UK tour, details can be found here: http://www.kenwright.com/index.php?id=1224
(With cast members Kate O'Mara, Max Hutchinson and Susie Amy.)
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