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Murder’s no laughing matter
Jason Durr brings a little handsome dash to Belgian sleuth Poirot Black Coffee
The New Alexandra Theatre
**** IF the audience numbers are anything to
go by, then the draw of an Agatha Christie murder mystery still seems to
have the power to pull them in. Or perhaps it’s the fact that the dashing Jason
Durr has taken over the role of the famous Hercule Poirot from Robert
Powell on this tour, which has added a touch of contemporary wit to the
proceedings. Whatever the case, at this current production of
Black Coffee, by Bill Kenright’s Agatha Christie Theatre Company, there
was a healthy cross section of ages in attendance to witness the
murderous goings on in this stylish 1920’s Art Deco home.
It certainly seems to cater for everyone .From
the glamorous costumes by Nikki Bird to the elegant setting by Simon
Scullion it’s a visual treat, but what really keeps this production
awake is the well timed humour. It takes a while to get going but as soon as
scientist and inventor Sir Claud Amory, played by Ric Recate ,has been
rendered to a comfortably seated corpse, much to the almost casual
indifference of his family and house guests , then with the arrival of
Hercule Poirot things begin to liven up. Previous takes on Christies’ Poirot have left us
with the image of a neat, portly man and with a not exactly Bond- like
demeanour. Here though, even carrying a few mild aches and pains of an
older man, Jason Durr seemed more fitting as an elegant and handsome
version of the detective.
With a few simple gestures he seemed to be able
to create a sense of fun and amusing dismay at his findings in his
suspects which were all a welcome addition to what is largely an
uncreative plot. Liza Goddard was equally frivolous at times as
the deceased’s sister, lady Caroline. With her un-politically correct
references to foreigners, all written remember in a time of the British
Empire, she got the audience laughing, possibly more out of pent up
relief than in actual content. Olivia Mace played Lucia, the glamorous yet
troubled heroine and seemingly obvious suspect, and she has a timeless
quality about her and her performance that reminded me of Grace Kelly. Poirot’s friend and sidekick Captain Hastings
played by Robin McCallum, was a very fresh upper crust chap. Although
there was a slight age difference between himself and Felicity Holbrooke
who plays the totally spiffing niece Barbara, together they found the
opportunity to inject some youthful romance into the dark proceedings. The son Richard Amory is played by Ben Nealon and
with some of the other players not quite being heard on stage Nealon
thankfully was clear and crisper than his starched collar in the role.
One casualty to volume was Gary Mavers as Dr Carelli. Mavers although
handsome, well attired and slicker than a can of WD40, was hard to
understand at times with his drifting Italian accent. Overall this is a very smart and entertaining
show and though some Christie purists might indeed wag a critical finger
at the light hearted direction by Joe Harmston, for me it worked really
well. In fact I had no need of black coffee at all as in the end it was
the combination of humour and 1920s elegance and at other times some
teenagers rustling bag of sweets and a mobile phone behind me, that kept
me from nodding off. To 12-07-14 Jeff Grant
07-07-14
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