Overall, the voyage of Murder on the Nile was a very pleasant one for the audience – though not necessarily for the relatively endangered passenger list trapped on deck. In fact, in the first act, a fastidiously scripted recalling of journeying across various regions of Egyptian geography threatened to derail a scene between Simon Mostyn and Canon Ambrose Pennefather (Mark Redrup, who exuded experience and class in his performance), yet this was admirably persevered through and thankfully at that, as in the latter parts of Acts II and III, the play came alive with the eponymous crime becoming the central point of the drama. Yet it is Guy Jack’s standout turn as William Smith steals every second of his stage time and can be credited with a balanced performance of gravitas as well as delivering humour with exceptional timing, indeed reviving the play in choppy waters at occasional points where the wider dialogue felt a bit tedious and over-detailed. For anyone expecting a tinge of Kenneth Branagh’s bizarre Brussels bravado from recent glitzy Hollywood motion pictures, you won’t find it here, but that doesn’t take away from a typically shimmeringly vivacious production that kept the audience entertained. The key difference to the slightly differently named book Death on the Nile from which Christie adapted her work to this play, is the missing detective work of Hercule Poirot.

The informative programme notes tell us that Christie’s play debuted in Wimbledon in 1945, so almost 80 years and a handful of changes on the District Line later, the Judi Dench Playhouse in Ealing seemed like more than an apt setting, providing a nostalgic ambiance that transported the audience back to the Golden Age of mystery and suspense.

The set design was impeccable, with sandy and beige tones that reflected the sweeping vistas of Egypt and the riverside (although it was presumably the Grand Union Canal transformed for the occasion) and the mainly cream and bleached linen costumes were perfectly tailored to both theses surroundings and to the era. The play is brought to life on stage in a singular room: the observation deck of the paddle steamer Lotus as it cruises down the Nile between Shellal and Wadi Halfa in Egypt.

Despite Murder on the Nile being a timeless Agatha Christie‘s whodunit, I learned that it is the first time in 90 years of The Questors Theatre, that any Christie had been on the bill to thrill audiences.

Murder on the nile agatha christie