Countess Andrenyi (April Culver) meets Detective Hercule Poirot (Michael Champlin) on the platform of the Orient Express. (Photo by Christian Pizzirani)
When a passenger is
found stabbed to death in his bed on the legendary Orient Express train from
Istanbul to Western Europe in 1934, Hercule Poirot must use his keen detective
skills to find the guilty person.
Because no one had
entered or exited the train since it left Istanbul, the list of suspects is
confined to its passengers and staff in Ken Ludwig’s stage adaptation of Agatha
Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”
And because the train is
stuck in the snow with no connection to the outside world, it’s up to Poirot to
find the murderer.
In Palo Alto Players’
production, astutely directed by Katie O’Bryon Champlin, her husband, Michael
Champlin, plays Poirot with sharp timing.
The rest of the cast
also is noteworthy, especially Zachary Vaughn-Munck as Monsieur Bouc, the train
company’s owner. Bay Area favorite Linda Piccone as Princess Dragomiroff brings
her understated comedic skills to the character.
As Poirot finds one clue
after another, each seeming to implicate another suspect, the suspense grows.
Multi-tasking Kevin
Davies, who designed movable sets to facilitate quick scene changes, also served
as prop designer, technical director and master carpenter. Effective lighting
is by Edward Hunter.
Because Palo Alto
Players’ usual home, the Lucie Stern Theater in Palo Alto, is being outfitted
with new seats and other improvements, this show is being presented in Woodside
High’s Performing Arts Center.
Its acoustics are less
than ideal, distorting the dialogue, making it hard to understand even though
it can be heard in Jeff Grafton’s sound design.
The characters’ accents
also interfere with catching all of the dialogue. Nevertheless, the staging and
acting clarify most of the plot so that the surprise ending comes through.
Running about two hours
and 15 minutes with an intermission, “Murder on the Orient Express” will
continue through June 30 at the Woodside High venue, 199 Churchill Ave., Woodside,
where there’s ample parking just west of the Woodside Road-Alameda de las
Pulgas intersection.
For tickets and information,
call (650) 329-0891 or visit www.paplayers.org.
