Murder on the nile @ JPAS

Murder on the Nile at JPAS (Photo Credit: John B. Barrois)

​Die me a river: Murder on the Nile @ JPAS
Review by Todd Perley

I have a soft spot for the cozy murder mystery, driven by plot and characters, usually isolated in whatever setting, over the violence of murder itself. Agatha Christie, of course, was the Queen of the Cozies, and her 1937 novel Death on the Nile remains one of her pinnacle pieces. The 1978 film with Peter Ustinov playing Hercule Poirot to perfection follows the book closely, and the stellar cast and location shooting throughout Egypt cements the film as a classic.

In 1940, Christie wrote a stage adaptation, changing the title by one word, which isn’t a big deal, but also wrote Poirot out of the plot. Huh? Director Kristopher Shaw tells us, “… by the time she had adapted the novel, she had grown weary of Hercule Poirot. Instead of including him, she created a new character, Canon Pennefather, as an amalgamation of several characters from the book.” This had me concerned, being a fanboy of Poirot for pretty much my whole life, but I was also eager and curious about this new Poirot-less version.

The action takes place in the late 1930s in the salon of the paddle steamer “Lotus”, cruising down the Nile, and the set is an eye-feast. It’s a period piece not written from nostalgia, but actually written in the time it is set. Which makes a difference somehow, I’ve always found.

Act I introduces us to our suspects, fleshing out their backstories, motivations, and grievances. Simon Mostyn (Jonathan Mares) recently married up into the rich and opulent world of Kay Ridgeway-Mostyn (Kendall Berry), jilting his former fiancée Jacqueline (Gabriella Santalla), who plauges the newlyweds with her surprise presence wherever they go.

Other passengers include Mrs. Ffoliot-Ffoulkes (not a typo) played by Janet Shea, a crotchety old woman traveling with her amenable niece Christina (Sarah Colbert), Dr. Ludwig Bessner (Adriel Aviles) whom Mrs. Ffoliot-Ffoulkes refers to with derision as “foreign.” (But so is she, being English in Egypt.) William Smith (Leon Contavesprie) is the sarcastic bohemian, and the aforementioned Canon Pennefather (Jimmy Murphy) stands in for Poirot. Getting to know our shipmates is not rushed. It is both necessary to the plot to know these people well, and also a delight.

Act II presents our cozy little murder and the sleuthing begins with Christie’s trademark misdirection and cleverness steering the plot. The direction is zippy. Constant movement, rat-a-tat dialogue, people coming and going, the energy stays high and engaging.

While I did miss Poirot, Dame Agatha’s new amateur detective is well-written and believable, so I consider the omission of her supersleuth to be justified, and an interesting twist to a story I was well-acquainted with.

If well-constructed murder mysteries are your happy place, as they are mine, treat yourself to Maestro Christie’s classic whodunnit, told with pep and vim by an exceptional cast. As Christie wrote, “The impossible cannot have happened; therefore, the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.”

Murder on the Nile plays at Jefferson Performing Arts Center through 23 February - click here for more information and ticketing.