Murder on the Orient Express at Chichester Festival Theatre

Henry Goodman in Murder on the Orient Express

Adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig

13th May - 4 June, Chichester Festival Theatre
9th - 25th June, Theatre Royal Bath

About the story

The celebrated detective Hercule Poirot boards the legendary Orient Express, enjoying the prospect of a luxurious rail journey from Istanbul to Calais in the dead of winter.

The train is surprisingly packed for the time of year; only the intervention of the manager secures Poirot a first class berth, alongside an intriguing and glittering company of international travellers.

But just after midnight, the Orient Express screeches to a halt, marooned by a snowdrift. And by morning, one passenger is dead…

Nobody can leave. A guard appears to be missing. A killer is in their midst. And Poirot must deploy his ‘little grey cells’ on the most difficult case of his career: one that will force him to question his deepest beliefs.

Booking information (Chichester)

General booking now open
Website cft.org.uk
Box Office 01243 781312
Tickets from £10

Booking information (Bath)
General booking now open
Website theatreroyal.org
Box Office 01225 448844
Tickets from £5.75

About the production

Adapted from Agatha Christie’s masterpiece by Ken Ludwig, this spectacular and sumptuous new staging is directed by former CFT Artistic Director Jonathan Church (Amadeus, Singin’ in the Rain, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) and designed by Robert Jones (Oklahoma!, Mack & Mabel).

Henry Goodman makes a welcome return to Chichester to play Poirot, following his appearances in Yes, Prime Minister (2010) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (2012/13), also directed by Jonathan Church, and which both transferred to the West End. His many other roles encompass his Olivier Award-winning Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Roy Cohn in the UK premiere of Angels in America and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (all National Theatre), Volpone for the RSC, and Assassins for which he also won an Olivier Award at the Donmar Warehouse.

Joining double Olivier Award-winner Henry Goodman as Hercule Poirot are: Marc Antolin (as Michel the Conductor), Philip Cairns (Colonel Arbuthnot), Samuel Collings (Hector MacQueen), Joanna McCallum (as Princess Dragomiroff), Taz Munyaneza (Mary Debenham), Patrick Robinson (Monsieur Bouc), Laura Rogers (Countess Andrenyi), Sara Stewart (Helen Hubbard), Joanna van Kampen (Greta Ohlsson) and Timothy Watson (Samuel Ratchett), together with Matt Addis, Kelvin Ade, Joelle Dyson, Jacqueline Tate and juvenile actors Sophie Bye and Eleanor Sebastian.

Ken Ludwig has had six productions on Broadway and seven in London’s West End. His 28 plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States every night of the year. Crazy for You was on Broadway for five years, the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. Lend Me a Tenor won two Tony Awards. He has won the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Charles MacArthur Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery. His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year. His most recent plays include Pride and Prejudice, Part 2: Napoleon at Pemberley; Lady Molly of Scotland Yard; and Moriarty. For more information, visit www.kenludwig.com.

The production will have lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Adrian Sutton, sound by Christopher Shutt, movement by Lucy Hind, and casting by Gabrielle Dawes CDG.

It is sponsored by Greenwood Wealth Solutions.