SCHENECTADY – I confess.
I confess that, when it comes to watching mysteries, I am brain lazy. I am content letting detectives far cleverer than I face a criminal conundrum and try to figure it out. Oh, I enjoy the denouement, when, at last, the revelation embarrasses the protesting murderer and shocks the onlookers; but mostly I like dawdling along, admiring the clothes and scenery if it’s a period piece, or special effects if the onstage weather is bad, or the types of characters the author has thrown together for merry mayhem.
For these reasons I had a good time at SCP’s production of “Murder on the Orient Express,” Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel.
And because I didn’t know the story at all, never having read the book or seen the 1974 movie, I loved the big reveal!
The story involves 12 folks on a luxury train from Istanbul to western Europe over a 24-hour period. The trip is stalled by a snowstorm, thus preventing the murderer of tough guy Samuel Ratchett (Marty O’Connor) from disembarking at the next stop.
It is up to passenger Hercule Poirot (a spot-on Michael Kharfen) to find the killer.
Could it be Colonel Arbuthnot (Drew Pearson) or his girlfriend, Mary (Meigg Jupin)? Did the haughty Princess Dragomiroff (Pat Brady) or her giddy assistant, Greta (Erin Satterlee), have anything to do with it?
What might Ratchett’s employee, Hector (Scott Brown), have had to gain from his boss’s demise? Could Michel (Mark Stephens), the train conductor, have been involved? The lovely, brilliant Countess Andrenyi (Josephine O’Connor)? Or is it the loudmouthed, much-married, wealthy American Helen Hubbard (Robin Leary) who stabbed Ratchett eight times?!
Poirot interviews each of them, assembles the scraps of information that he sees and hears, and arrives at a masterful “J’accuse!” near play’s end. But there is a surprisingly moving coda that satisfies beyond the simple pleasures of discovery.
And I am not going to say a word more about the plot.
Oh, wait: you are probably familiar with this story, so back to the pleasures I referred to earlier in this review. Marcia Thomas’s colorful costumes put us squarely in the ’30s, and, despite a wee bit of tedium during the unavoidable and numerous scene changes (executed as swiftly as possible by Sheila Morris Barnes and Amy Krawiecki), David Zwierankin’s set pieces aptly evoke various places on a train.
Kudos to Jennifer Van Iderstyne’s sound effects, musical and otherwise; and a big shoutout to Elise Charlebois for the lighting — often atmospheric but especially in the closing scenes startling and dramatic.
And the actors. Co-directors Cristine M. Loffredo & Mark Stephens have guided the large cast through their ensemble moments and their individual monologues to fine effect: vivid types, all. Accents? Convincing (a nod to vocal coach Carol Charniga).
I particularly liked the broad comic work of Leary, the quirky portrayal of MacQueen by Brown, the butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth delivery of Brady, and the unselfconscious elegance of Josephine O’Connor’s Countess.
One more character: Constantine Bouc (Jason Biszick), the owner of the Orient Express company and a friend of Poirot. Worrying that his company will be financially affected by bad publicity surrounding the murder, he helps his Belgian friend pursue the truth.
About the characterizations by SCP veteran Biszick and SCP newcomer Kharfen I have nothing but praise. The interplay between Bouc and Poirot is credible, their emotions believable. But the volume of their dialogue is often way too loud — fine for projection, though not for variety of mood or rhythm of conversation between these two French-speaking chums.
In Bill Buell’s Nov. 9 Gazette preview of the show, director Loffredo says, “The entire cast and crew are top-notch, and I think audiences are in for a real treat.”
Entertaining, indeed!
Note: Masks are required.
Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’
WHERE: Schenectady Civic Players, 12 S. Church St.
WHEN: through Nov. 20
HOW MUCH: $25
MORE INFO: 518.382.2081, or civicplayers.org
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