Theater Review: "Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express"

The Terryville High School Drama Club is presenting an up close and personal production of “Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express,” adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig. The students are directed by Kayla Mastracchio. Remaining performances this weekend run through Nov. 20 at the Borkowski Family Auditorium in the high school.

Patrons are issued a round trip ticket in the lobby and then have it punched as they enter at the back of the auditorium. A costumed cast member leads small groups in character to the bleacher seating on the stage of the auditorium.

Famous detective Hercule Poirot is called back from Istanbul to London on urgent business. He intends to book a first-class compartment on the Orient Express, run by his former friend and colleague, Monsieur Bouc. The train is surprisingly full, but Bouc manages to secure Poirot a spot in the first-class cabin.

While aboard the Orient Express, Poirot meets a host of peculiar characters: an aging Russian princess, her Swedish companion, a Hungarian countess, a Minnesota housewife, a Scottish colonel, an English governess, a French conductor, a disagreeable American businessman, and his anxious secretary. While aboard the train, the angry businessman, Samuel Ratchett, corners Poirot and demands Poirot to investigate a series of ominous letters that have been sent to Ratchet, threatening his life.

As a snowdrift halts the Orient Express in its tracks, Ratchett is found stabbed multiple times in his locked train compartment. Poirot is tasked by Monsieur Bouc to solve the murder, as the killer could still be in their midst. As Poirot investigates, conflicting clues and convoluted alibis lead him to dead ends. Over the course of 48 hours, the audience will discover if Poirot will be able to solve the case of the Murder on the Orient Express.

All of the performers were required to take on their particular accents for their characters, so the dialogue can be hard to follow. However, the students had worked hard to embody the, shall we say, interesting roles.

Taryn McWilliams, a senior at THS, shines in the role of Hercule Poirot, the famous detective. McWilliams appeared as Courfeyrac in “Les Miz” with Landmark.

Tyler Violette, a junior, portrays the handsome Colonel Arbuthnot, as well as the passenger Samuel Rachett. This young actor played Michael Wormwood in the Warner’s “Matilda The Musical'', and was part of “Let It Be” and “The Addams Family” with Landmark.

Azayda Lynt , who played Enjolras in Landmark Community Theatre’s “Les Miserables” and is a Young Artist recipient of the Bushnell’s Ensign-Darling Vocal Fellowship (New Voices) scholarship, is convincing in the role of Mary Degenham in a great red dress and black cloche, and was the actor who led my group to their seats on the stage completely in character.
Junior Hannah Foster, who has six years of dance experience, is spot on in the large role of Helen Hubbard, who enters in a magnificent black feather hat. Senior Tyler Champangne plays the secretary Hector Macqueen.

Jonah Lopez, who played 10-year -old Tommy in “The Who’s Tommy” with Landmark and most recently played Charlie Bucket in “Willy Wonka, Jr” at Seven Angels, covers the role of Poirot’s old friend, Monsieur Bouc.

Sophomore Naydine Molina is very good as the Russian Princess Natalya Dragomiroff
North Holt, who recently made their debut in “Let It Be” with Landmark, plays her companion Greta Ohlsson.

Asst. Director Hailey “Olli” Stamm, who was in the ensemble for “The Who’s Tommy” and “American Idiot” with Landmark, does well with her role as Countess Elena Andrenyi. Stamm attends Naugatuck Valley Community College. Ash Code plays the porter Michel, and junior Ruby Loeffler portrays a head waiter.

The director writes that this Agatha Christie work “delves into the perplexing and enigmatic phenomenon that is travel.” Mastraccchio hoped to share the concept of the claustrophobia of being trapped on a train full of strangers by seating the audience in the Drama Club’s first ever “Black Box Theatre” setting. “We want you to feel as if you are there, trapped with these characters and experiencing the same terror and mystery as them.” She goes on to explain that the production team decided to incorporate two distinct color schemes to represent the roles each character has in the narrative, and that they staged the entire show to be from the point of view of the detective.

Sitting on the stage, set up as a black box, worked well for the most part. It certainly gave the audience an up close and personal view of the performers and the movements of the stage crew. I have a new appreciation for all that they do during a performance. At times, actors had their backs to half of the audience members and the sound system behind the audience made for a different experience.

The director is thrilled to be co-advising the Drama Club at THS. She holds a BA in English literature from CSCU and a Masters of Library and Information Science and works as a Circulation Supervisor at Torrington Library. I have seen Mastracchio’s performance as the Cat in the Hat in “Seussical,” Nancy in “Oliver!,” and Violet in “Willy Wonka,” as well as the choreography work that she has done with Theatre at TCC.

The production of “Murder on the Orient Express” was produced by Nicole McWilliams, the other THS Drama Club Advisor. McWilliams has been involved with the club since 2013, beginning as a parent volunteer. She recently began working in local theaters, including “Let It Be” and “The Emperor's New Clothes” with Landmark. She is the Career Pathways Advisor at Terryville High School.

Jonathan Zalaski was the scenic designer of the very clever and quite intricate set. The principal action takes place aboard the Orient Express train as it travels from Istanbul to Western Europe in 1934 during a snowstorm. The set shows us the outside and inside of the train and more settings. Kudos to the members of the crew for repeatedly moving the large set pieces into place.

Costumes designed by Mastracchio fit the characters to perfection. Sound design by Charlotte Green had some hiccups that were fixed quickly, along with some appropriate music, and the lighting designer Mitchell Beaudoin, who ran sound for “Earlene’s Christmas Carol” at Seven Angels, adds to the mystery of it all. Tayla Boysewicz and freshman Steven Rinaldi collected the props required.

The play is presented with one 15-minute intermission.

Performances:
Friday, Nov. 18th @ 7:00 pm
Saturday, Nov. 19th @ 7:00 pm
Sunday, Nov. 20th @ 2:00 pm

**Tickets are $10.00, and seating is limited to 70/ show. You can purchase tickets by going to ths.booktix.com**

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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