Murder On The Orient Express - CFT

Really enjoyed this tonight. An excellent entertainment, with Henry Goodman's Poirot the highlight!

Some spoilers follow. . .

This is Poirot. It's not going to change the world. But it's a really good Poirot, and it's great fun!

I've seen numerous Poirots on screen, even numerous versions of this Poirot story, so I wasn't going to bother. Then I realised Henry Goodman was in it, and he has never let me down in anything (his Arturo Ui was one for the ages), so I wanted to see it for him.

And he's great, a combination of my two favourite Poirots: the epicurean experience-hungry sensation of a raconteur, that was Peter Ustinov, and the methodical, precise and eloquent problem solver that is David Suchet. Goodman is buoyant fun, like Ustinov, and confidence-inspiring, like Suchet, and he also has that soft-spoken, thoughtful, heartfelt humanity that he often brings to roles, and does so in spades here, in particular in the opening and closing monologues.

I often find Agatha Christie cold and dry, so Goodman remedies that by being warm and effusive.

The plot has lost one third of its suspects, so some won't like that, though it makes it easier to stage, and the key suspects are still there. And there is an additional plot element, added to give a dramatic flourish to the end of the first act, that Christie purists might not like either.

But for me, Goodman is one of the top three Poirots (eat your heart out, Albert Finney!), the train and train sounds are evocative, the plotting is effective, and all-in-all this is an excellent, if undemanding, night out.

4 stars from me.

And The Ivy opens just near the Market Cross at the end of the month!

I saw the matinee yesterday though unlike Steve, I've given up trying to do 2 shows in one day at CFT so am going 8 or 9 times this year, next trip to see The Unfriend. I can see that MOTOE has been done very well (apart from one wavering accent) and that Henry Goodman, always worth seeing in anything, makes a good Poirot, but it still seems an odd choice of production for the time of year and on what eventually turned out to be quite a fine day. It's set in the dead of winter, all dark and gloomy; the train gets marooned in a snowdrift and there's lots of sombre, portentous music. So maybe that was why I wasn't really in the mood for this and felt I could have taken it or left it.

I saw this script in New Jersey's McCarther Theatre many years ago and enjoyed it immensely. Looks from images I've seen that it's an entirely different physical production/setting. This may be why some think it ordinary when I found it to be very unique. That production went on to Hartford Connecticut but never came into Broadway. Is there a play to have it on the West End in the fall so there will be three Christie shows on for the 70th anniversary of The Mousetrap?

I saw this last night and enjoyed it very much,

I don’t have an issue with the amount of humour in it- am surprised people are objecting so much. How dull it would be with no laughs.

Henry Goodman- excellent. In fact the best Poirot I’ve ever seen. Incredibly loving and fully committed to the role and accent.

Sara Stewart and Joanna Van Kampen the best of the supporting performances, but lord above Mary Debenham is absolutely shocking. If this transfers into London she needs to go.

Wonderful lighting, movement, music and scenic design. A very tricky piece to put on that stage but they have done an admiral job.

I'd be surprised if it did, it didn't sell well in either Chichester or Bath. 

I just thought if Arturo Ui transferred with Henry Goodman, then this popular title could too! The ones from CFT I'm waiting for are The Unfriend and hopefully, Crazy for You.

Yes, my bet is the Unfriend ends up in the Criterion.

Got there in the end lol!