Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express by Ken Ludwig will be playing at Little Theatre of Bedford on March 3, 4, 10 & 11 at 7:30 p.m. and March 5 & 12 at 2:30 p.m.
This show is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
This production, directed by Tomi Carroll, production features many Little Theatre of Bedford regulars and introduces a few new faces as well.
Based on the novel originally published in 1934, Murder on the Orient Express is a classic murder-mystery story, one some may even say is the greatest ever written.
In this play, just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.
This show will be Carroll’s fourth from the director’s seat at the little theatre since she began in 2007. She said she was interested in directing this particular script because of her appreciation for original book and the script’s faithfulness to the source material.
“I particularly enjoyed this script, because I am a huge Agatha Christie fan and the play author, Ken Ludwig is an outstanding playwriter. Also, with the recent release of the movies based on her works, this seemed a great season to include another Agatha Christie classic in our season lineup. The script is an adaptation of the book, and has been shortened in the number of characters included, but still stays true to the original story,” she said.
The cast and crew are currently rehearsing for the March debut. As they’ve prepared to take this before a live audience, Carroll explained that designing the set for this play, which largely takes place on a train, has been one of the larger hurdles.
“The biggest challenge with this show has been the set design. Once we decided that most of the action would take place on the train, we first built a ‘train’ comprising two cars that are each about eight feet wide and 12 feet long. It then became a big choreography job to be able to fit 11 people in the limited space we designed, but it really gives it a feel of being on an actual train,” Carroll said. “The train cars are also very lavishly appointed, and our cast has spent every Saturday since January working to give life to our Orient Express.”
Cast
- Hercule Poirot Daniel Baker
- Monsieur Bouc Aden Morris
- Mary Debenham Alec Guerra
- Hector MacQueen Ethan Walter*
- Michele the Conductor JD Lanham
- Princess Dragomiroff Jen McNeely
- Gretta Ohlssen Megan Barnard
- Countess Andrenyi Carrie Owens
- Helen Hubbard Susan Wilkinson
- Colonel Arbuthnot Greg Simons*
- Samuel Ratchett Kim Scherschel
- Headwaiter and radio man James Gilmartin*
- Daisy Armstrong Beatrice Barnard*
*indicates first performance at LTB
To order tickets
You can purchase tickets through Eventbrite or by calling the box office.
Eventbrite: tinyurl.com/mufbxzht
Box office at (812) 279-3009
