9 – 25 June
Sensational new staging of Agatha Christie’s world-famous thriller MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS tours exclusively to Bath
Henry Goodman stars as Hercule Poirot in a brand-new stage production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express which visits Bath exclusively, direct from its opening at Chichester Festival Theatre. Appearing at the Theatre Royal Bath from Thursday 9th to Saturday 25th June, Christie’s thrilling murder mystery is directed by Jonathan Church, Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal’s Summer Season (Betrayal, An Ideal Husband, The Price).
Agatha Christie’s world-famous novel has been adapted for the stage for the first time in Europe by multi award-winning Ken Ludwig, whose previous Tony Award-winning productions include Crazy For You and Lend Me A Tenor. The breath-taking set design featuring the famous Orient Express train has been created by Robert Jones.
Double Olivier Award winner Henry Goodman plays the role of celebrated detective Hercule Poirot, who boards the legendary Orient Express for 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. 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.
Henry Goodman’s numerous film and television credits include The New Pope, Watership Down and Yes, Prime Minister. He has performed on stage extensively at the RSC, National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway. He won the Olivier Award for his roles in The Merchant of Venice at the National Theatre and Assassins at the Donmar Warehouse. His many previous appearances at Bath’s Theatre Royal include, most recently, The Birthday Party in 2005, Duet For One in 2009 and Looking At Lucian in 2017 at the Ustinov Studio.
The seventeen-strong cast for Murder On The Orient Express also features Joanna McCallum as Princess Dragomiroff, Patrick Robinson as Monsieur Bouc, Sara Stewart as Helen Hubbard, Timothy Watson as Samuel Ratchett, Joanna van Kampen as Greta Ohlsson, Laura Rogers as Countess Andrenyi, Philip Cairns as Colonel Arbuthnot, Samuel Collings as Hector MacQueen, Marc Antolin as Michel the Conductor and Taz Munyaneza as Mary Debenham. The Ensemble are Matt Addis, Kelvin Ade, Joelle Dyson and Jacqueline Tate.
Joanna McCallum has performed in the West End, at the RSC, Chichester Festival Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe. Her many screen credits include Trainer, Tom & Viv, Doctors and The Gathering Storm. She last performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in Hobson’s Choice in 2016. Patrick Robinson’s many television roles include playing Father Benedict in The Last Kingdom, Marcus in The Trouble With Maggie Cole, Martin Ashford in Casualty, Cameron in Mount Pleasant and DC Jacob Banks in The Bill. On stage, he has performed in the West End, at the National Theatre and in numerous productions for RSC. He last appeared at the Theatre Royal on tour in the National Theatre’s staging of Macbeth in 2018.
Sara Stewart returns to Bath following her 2018 role in The Price alongside David Suchet, also directed by Jonathan Church. Her numerous theatre credits also include Chichester Festival Theatre’s productions of Heartbreak House and Enron, which toured to Bath in 2010. Her many television credits include Cell 8, Queens of Mystery, State of the Union, Unforgotten, Doctor Foster and Drop the Dead Donkey. Timothy Watson is well known as the villainous Rob Titchener in Radio 4’s long-running favourite The Archers. His film and television credits include Man and Boy, EastEnders, Footballers Wives, Peak Practice and Mr Selfridge. His stage credits include roles at the National Theatre and in the West End. He last performed at Bath’s Theatre Royal in The Winslow Boy in 2018 and in Whipping it Up and Bedroom Farce in 2007.
Joanna van Kampen is known to a huge radio audience for her role as Fallon in The Archers. She last performed at Bath’s Theatre Royal in An Ideal Husband in 2018, direct from the West End, and in North by Northwest in 2017. Joanna was recently seen on television in The Outlaws. Laura Rogers performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in Pressure in 2018 and in Private Lives in 2016. Her recent theatre work includes The Ocean at the End of the Lane at the National Theatre and in the West End. Her West End credits also include The 39 Steps and Bad Girls: The Musical. Her television credits include EastEnders, New Tricks, Doctor Who and Bad Girls.
Samuel Collings’ television work includes The Lost Pirate Kingdom, Hex and Outlander. On stage, his credits include The Great Murder Mystery, and Othello and Macbeth at HOME Manchester and Lyric Hammersmith. He last performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in Waiting For God in 2017. Taz Munyaneza recently performed in Our Lady Of Kibeho at Theatre Royal Stratford East and the television series The One. Marc Antolin has appeared in The Magician’s Elephant for the RSC, Romantics Anonymous at Bristol Old Vic and Little Shop of Horrors, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Philip Cairns’ recent credits include Call The Midwife on BBC1 and, on stage, Cyrano de Bergerac in the West End, Peer Gynt at the National Theatre and Pressure which toured to Bath in 2018.
Murder On The Orient Express is adapted by Ken Ludwig whose thirty plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States. His six productions on Broadway and seven in London’s West End, include Crazy For You which ran on Broadway for five years and in the West End for three years – winning the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. His musical Lend Me A Tenor won two Tony Awards. Ken has also won two Laurence Olivier Awards, the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater, 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.
Murder On The Orient Express appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Thursday 9th to Saturday 25th June. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk
Photo credit: Johan Persson
