Ah, Agatha Christie. Can’t get much better than Christie if you’re looking for a great mystery.
Her output: 66 detective novels and 14 short-story collections – have sold over two billion copies and been surpassed only by the Bible and the works of Shakespeare. She’s also the most translated author in the world, whose books have been translated into more than 100 languages.
She may be best known for the play “The Mousetrap,” which opened in the West End in 1920, but she’ll likely be best remembered here for “Murder on the Orient Express,” first published in 1934, and now playing on The Old Globe’s Shiley Stage.
“Murder on the Orient Express” is about those old-fashioned trains that everybody took then. The Orient Express is the name of a train that carries some 13 passengers. They are all different, some richer than others, and going to their destinations together.
They each have a separate room, and each is the size it needs to be for the size of its inhabitant. On this night, there are six women and seven men, though not all the men are passengers.
It’s great fun to watch this gang as the story unfolds. This version has eliminated a few excess characters and changes some of the scenes, but is still a delight to watch.
The train in this case is going from Istanbul to Paris, and when the murder occurs, the famous mustachioed detective Hercule Poirot (wonderfully played by Andrew Sellon) is asked to solve the crime.
The set, designed by Paul Tate DePoo III, rotates amazingly and the projections and pre-filmed scenes added to the action onstage almost make it seem like a movie.
Sellon’s Poirot is wonderful, as are some of the real scene-stealing female passengers like Mylinda Hull, who sings (unasked) like the American divorcée she plays.
Other excellent cast members are Ariella Kvashny as the Hungarian countess Andrenyi, Karole Foreman as the Russian princess Dragomiroff; David Breitbarth as Monsieur Bouc, the train company director, and Sam Ashdown as Col. Arbuthnot.
Though the accents aren’t always consistent, it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that the show is funny and a delight to watch.
The details
“Murder on the Orient Express” plays through Oct. 13 on The Old Globe Theatre’s Shiley Stage, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.
Shows Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets start at $47 and are available at theoldglobe.org or (619) 234-5623
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