11 – 15 March
Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS tours to Bath starring Michael Maloney as Hercule Poirot.
Winter 1934 and an avalanche stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on board, can the world’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?
One of Agatha Christie’s greatest literary achievements, Murder On The Orient Express has a final twist that is amongst her very best. Gripping, tense and masterfully cryptic, this brand-new production, adapted by Ken Ludwig and directed by Lucy Bailey, promises a deliciously thrilling ride and an ingenious murder mystery, guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the end of the line.
Michael Maloney’s extensive film and television credits over five decades include Belfast, The Iron Lady, The Young Victoria, Notes On A Scandal, Truly Madly Deeply, Magpie Murders, The Trial Of Christine Keeler, The Five, River, The White Queen, Bonekickers, Empire, The Jury and Love On A Branch Line. On the stage, his many roles for the RSC include Edgar, Romeo and Prince Hal. For the National Theatre, he has appeared in Light Shining in Buckinghamshire as Cromwell, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground as Lewis Carroll and Once in a While the Odd Thing Happens as Benjamin Britten. In the West End, he has appeared in the title role in Peer Gynt, Can You Hear Me at the Back? and Taking Steps. Previously at the Theatre Royal Bath, Michael has starred in Sleuth in 1999 and played the title role in Yukio Ninagawa’s production of Hamlet in 2004.
Bob Barrett is best known on television as Sacha Levy in Holby City, a role he played from 2010 to 2022. His film credits include John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love. On stage, he recently appeared in the UK tour of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, also directed by Lucy Bailey, which played Bath in 2024. His previous appearances at the Theatre Royal also include Hamlet, alongside Michael Maloney, in 2004, and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Parts 1 & 2 in 2007.
Christine Kavanagh’s screen credits include A Room with a View, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking, In His Life: The John Lennon Story, Seaforth, All in the Game, The Blackheath Poisonings, Chimera and A Very British Coup. Her recent theatre credits include the UK tour of An Inspector Calls, which visited Bath in 2023; Ivo van Hove’s Hedda Gabler at the National Theatre; the UK tour of Basketcase, which appeared at the Theatre Royal in 2011; Man and Superman at the National Theatre; Gwendolyn in Lucy Bailey’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest, which visited Bath in 2014; Nora in A Doll’s House at the Belfast Lyric Theatre, and Trevor Nunn’s production of Albert Speer at the National Theatre.
Debbie Chazen’s recent television and film appearances include Sister Boniface Mysteries, Dalgliesh, The Last Kingdom, Red Joan, Agatha Raisin, The Smoking Room, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and Sherlock. Her London stage credits include Jews in Their Own Words at the Royal Court, the National Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre production of Our Generation, Romeo and Juliet at The Globe, and she starred as Ruth in the original cast of The Girls, the Gary Barlow/Tim Firth musical at Leeds Grand, The Lowry and in the West End. Her previous performances at Bath’s Theatre Royal include the National Theatre’s staging of Mother Clap’s Molly House in 2001 and A Little Hotel On The Side in the 2013 Summer Season.
Rebecca Charles, who hails from Bristol, has appeared in films including Bridget Jones’s Diary, Shakespeare in Love and Mrs Brown. On stage, she recently toured the UK in Murder in the Dark; with other theatre credits including The Dresser for Theatre Royal Bath in 2021, Abigail’s Party for Hull Truck, An Ideal Husband in the West End and Bath in 2018, Lucy Bailey’s tour of The Graduate, and Deborah Warner’s Julius Caesar at the Barbican and on European tour. Her
previous credits at the Theatre Royal Bath also include The Old Country in 2006, and the UK premiere of The Father, alongside Kenneth Cranham in 2014 at the Ustinov Studio, and in the Main House in 2015 following a celebrated London run.
Paul Keating, who plays Hector MacQueen, first came to attention when he won the title role in the West End premiere of The Who’s Tommy while still working on a supermarket check-out. He went on to appear on the London stage in the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven, The Full Monty musical, Don Carlos directed by Michael Grandage, Little Shop of Horrors, the Old Vic’s Cinderella and The Wizard of Oz. His television credits include EastEnders and Metrosexuality.
The fifteen-strong cast also features Mila Carter as Countess Elena Andreyni, Simon Cotton as Samuel Ratchett, Jean-Baptiste Fillon as Michel, Iniki Mariano as Mary Debenham, Rishi Rian as The Colonel, Alex Stedman as Head Waiter, and Jasmine Raymond, Beth Tuckey and Matt Weyland in the Ensemble.
Murder On The Orient Express is directed by Lucy Bailey, whose many acclaimed prodcutions include Witness for the Prosecution, And Then There Were None and The Other Boleyn Girl. Design is by Mike Britton, with lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, video design by Ian Galloway, sound design by Mic Pool, movement direction by Leah Hausman, casting by Abby Galvin and Victoria Gartner is assistant director.
Murder On The Orient Express appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 11th to Saturday 15th March. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at theatreroyal.org.uk
Photography credit: Manuel Harlan
This listing appears on our front page until 11:55pm on Saturday March 15th, 2025
