Death on the Nile AT THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH
- May 20
- 4 min read
A Stylish Agatha Christie Classic on Stage Filled with Mystery, Tension and Suspense.
Recently, Agatha Christie’s murder mystery stories have had a bit of a resurgence in popularity, with Kenneth Branagh starring and directing in a number of Poirot’s most famous cases alongside an all-star Hollywood cast. With these high budget film adaptations creating large elaborate sets, extravagant costumes and a large steamship, I was intrigued to see how it would translate on stage, the result turned out to be a great evening of Theatre, delivering striking and imaginative visuals alongside some great storytelling.
Going into the show I was mostly curious about how they were going to stage the steamship, this was delivered by creating two levels on the stage to represent different levels of the ship’s decks. Railings would fly in to indicate when scenes were taking place outside on the deck and would then fly out again for the moments taking place in the ship’s interior, these transitions were simple but effective.
I remember seeing this company’s production of Murder on the Orient Express and thinking that the transitions into the different train carriages were quite clunky and noisy. In comparison, the set for this production worked much better with smoother scene changes despite the set feeling much larger to their previous production.
Although the set was large and visually impressive, I did feel that because of its size and forward positioning it limited the amount of space on the stage for the performers. As a result, a lot of the action was directed to play towards the front of the stage. This didn’t matter too much as it encouraged us to focus more on the storytelling and putting the pieces of the puzzle together but given the size of Theatre’s stage it would have been more exciting visually to see the space fully utilised rather than being dominated by the large ship structure.
The lighting for this production was integral to creating the perfect dark and mysterious atmosphere, with the stage keeping a low-level dimmed lighting throughout. However, there were some moments in the production where they relied heavily on onstage lamps and torch flames, which occasionally cast shadows on the performers which caused them to fade into darkness at times.
The performances across the cast were consistently strong, blending melodrama and period style performances that suited the era of the piece. That said, there were a few moments that felt slightly overdone and leaned into being cheesy, for example, I’m not sure that I enjoyed Poirot referring to Agatha Christie as being a better writer than Shakespeare. Personally, I find the iconic character referring to its author as slightly corny.
There were also a few moments in the show where comedic punchlines or “eureka” moments in the investigation were hammed up and delivered directly out towards the audience instead of naturally within the onstage conversations. It felt to me like they were trying too hard to make sure the audience followed every detail, almost spoon-feeding us the important lines. Ultimately this weakened some of the realism and bordered on parody at times.
One of the standout performances for me came from Libby Alexandra-Cooper as Linnet Ridgeway. Not only did she capture the beauty, glamour and elegance of the character, but her stage presence was commanding throughout. As the production progressed Linnet becomes increasingly paranoid and Libby portrayed her growing panic with real conviction, delivering an emotional and believable performance without becoming over-the-top.
Alongside her, another standout performance was from Nye Occomore as Simon Doyle. From reading his bio in the programme, it appears that much of his experience is in mostly Film & TV and I think this shows. I noticed throughout the show that even in moments where Simon was not the central focus of the scene, Nye remained completely engaged, reacting with intense facial expressions and body language in a way that made the character feel constantly present and invested in the action unfolding around him. Like Libby, he conveyed Simon’s panic and emotional turmoil with great skill, avoiding any unnecessary melodrama. Together, their performances were undoubtedly the highlight of the production for me.
It must be said that following in the footsteps of David Suchet and Kenneth Branagh is no easy task. Hercule Poirot is such an iconic and beloved character that audiences can often be reluctant to embrace a new interpretation. However, Mark Hadfield rose to the challenge with style and confidence, quickly winning over the audience. All the familiar qualities associated with Poirot, his mannerisms, accent, and charm were all present, yet Hadfield still managed to make the role feel fresh and uniquely his own. He brought a gentle warmth to the character, while also allowing moments of humour and cheekiness to shine through naturally. During the infamous concluding scenes, in which Poirot gathers all the suspects and unveils the details of his investigation, Hadfield delivered the dialogue with such passion and energy that it earned a huge round of applause from the audience. Overall, Hadfield approached the role with clear respect and delivered a performance that welcomingly places him alongside the likes of Suchet and Branagh as an excellent portrayal of Hercule Poirot.
Overall, this production is an enjoyable piece of Theatre If you have not read the books or seen the films you will thoroughly enjoy witnessing all of the twists and turns of the story for the first time whilst listening out for the clues and trying to solve the case yourself. Having seen seen the recent Branagh movies, I was aware of “who done it”, however, it was still enjoyable watching the case unfold and spotting the clues as the show progressed.
The tour comes to an end this week in Plymouth and so there is not much time left to catch the show. So if you can, board that steamship to the Nile and enjoy a classic piece of Theatre.
⭐⭐⭐
