ABOUT THE SHOW

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Ken Ludwig’s stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is a heart-racing suspense thriller, a knee-slapping comedy, and a head-scratching mystery all wrapped in one. 

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Set in 1932 on the glamorous Orient Express, a long-distance passenger train connecting continental Europe to west Asia, the play takes place primarily in Istanbul and Yugoslavia. But the passenger list includes dignitaries from all over the globe. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.

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Tickets are available at http://www.decaturciviccenter.org/events/. 

“Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com.

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THE CAST​

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This is an ensemble show and some characters will have accents. 

• 5 men, various ages. Note, Samuel Ratchett and Colonel Arbuthnot will be played by the same actor, as will the waiter and Michel. 

• 6 women, various ages

 

• Hercule Poirot (man 40s-60s): A Belgian detective. Meticulous and exacting, Poirot is a keen observer of detail and an astute judge of character. Certain that the crime was committed by someone on the train, he confidently and patiently works his way to a shocking solution. (Pronounced hur·kyool pwaa·row)

• Samuel Ratchett (man, 40s-50s): A middle-aged American businessman, Ratchett is brusque and unforgiving, with a threatening demeanor and a whiplash of a voice. He’s made plenty of enemies. 

• Countess Elena Andrenyl (woman, 20s-early 30s): Hungarian Countess Eléna Andrenyi is a doctor, brilliantly beautiful, and always dressed in furs and diamonds.  She seems too good to be true 

• Colonel James Arbuthnot (man, 30s): Arbuthnot is handsome and very matter-of-fact. He’s hopelessly in love with Mary. (Name is pronounced “Ar-buth-nut”)

• Monsieur Bouc (man, late 30s to 50s): A young middle-aged Belgian man of good humor, Bouc is an old friend of Poirot’s. He owns the train line and appears removed from the crime, often acting as Poirot’s sounding board.

• Mary Debenham (woman, late 20s to 30s): An English governess, Mary bears a certain sadness in her eyes. When she first appears, she is very anxious.

• Princess Dragomiroff (woman, 60s-80s): A forceful Russian princess who commands the room. Expensively dressed and handsomely bejeweled

• Head Waiter (man, 20s-40s): Professional, knowledgeable and a bit overconfident.

• Helen Hubbard (woman, 50s): An outspoken American widow, well-dressed with a touch of flamboyance, Hubbard is a tough-talking broad with a rough edge and a bold sense of humor. Must have vocal and dancing experience. 

• Hector MacQueen (man, 30s): A nervous young American with a strained, beleaguered face, Hector appears to be suppressing something.

• Michel (man, 40s): A good-looking Frenchman, Michel is the train conductor and has a quiet, almost grave sense of humor. He’s seen a lot in his years on the Orient Express, and he knows his way around the train.

• Greta Ohlsson (woman, 20s to 40s): Plain and modest, Greta is a Swedish nurse and African missionary with a frightened, sheep-like quality about her. 

 

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and, in many languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 66 crime novels, 150 short stories, over 20 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott. Her work includes Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and the genre-defining And Then There Were None.