Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee – Review

✭✭✭✭✩   Classic, classy Christie

Liza Goddard and Robert Powell. Photo © Keith Pattison

King’s Theatre
Mon 24 – Sat 29 March 2014
Review by Martin Gray

The Agatha Christie Theatre Company, last seen presenting Go Back For Murder at the King’s in 2013, returns to Edinburgh with the only stage play the Queen of Crime wrote featuring Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

And he has plenty of opportunity to flex those ‘little grey cells’ in a country house mystery which begins with an inventor and his stolen explosive formula. Said boffin, Sir Claud Amory, is swiftly dispatched while inviting his family and guests to return the paper, with poisoned coffee causing an apparent heart attack.

Soon Poirot and chum Captain Hastings are on the case, swimming through a sea of red herrings on their way to unmasking the culprit.

All the usual suspects are here: a woman with a secret in her past; a gaggle of heirs; the smooth secretary; a bally foreigner and, of course, the butler. Christie choreographs her characters through a typically twisting, yet fair-play plot, putting the spotlight of suspicion on each in turn.

While each of her players is, at base, a cog in a fiendish plot machine, she invests them with enough individuality to make them believable people rather than simple archetypes. And skilful playing brings them to life before our eyes.

While Gary Mavers and Olivia Mace, as Italians Lucia and Dr Carelli,  forget to do-a the accent once or twice, their overall strong playing and considerable charm sees them get away with it. And of course, it makes you wonder if they’re actually only pretending to be Italians within the play, adding an extra layer to the fun.

Felicity Houlbrooke is terrific as Sir Claude’s niece Barbara, the familiar fizzy ingenue with a taste for sensation, and her scenes with Robin McCallum as Hastings – to whom she takes a shine – are a hoot, even as they advance the story. McCallum’s mix of embarrassment, awkwardness and Tigger-like enthusiasm is truly impressive.

Liza Goddard could play Aunt Caroline, who’s dotty – ah, but is she really? – in her sleep, but she has enough respect for the audience, and her craft, not to. As a veteran star, Goddard might try a bit of scene stealing, but instead she’s a pitch perfect ensemble player.

While he’s not on stage for long, I did like Ric Recate as manipulative patriarch Sir Claud. I also liked Eric Carte as Inspector Japp. Frankly, I couldn’t choose between them …

Ben Nealon has a tough role. As Sir Claud’s son, Richard, he has to play sympathetically supportive husband to chief suspect Lucia while also seeming a credible cad. Happily, Nealon is up to the challenge.

“you can see the legendary brain cells at work”

The rest of the ensemble jolly the show along nicely, with Martin Carroll in particular, as the fabulously grumpy butler Tredwell, making the most of his stage time.

The ensemble, but who did it? Photo © Keith Pattison

And at the centre of it all there’s Poirot, in the form of Robert Powell – a slightly bigger form than usual, thanks to judicious padding that gives him the Belgian’s distinctive silhouette. Powell plays Poirot as slightly less cartoony than Poirot-for-a-generation David Suchet, making him more believable. Whereas the TV Poirot seems to be a savant, here you can see the legendary brain cells at work.

But Suchet, having committed to growing his own, has the better moustache.

Still, you can’t have everything, and this is a very watchable Poirot, wrangling his suspects with quiet glee. The partnership with the frankly dim Hastings works well – by the close of the action you can see why the detective keeps him around. Plus, the pairing allows Christie to insert some smart gags.

Director Joe Harmston doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. There are no showy moments of stagecraft, no winking at the audience – he serves the text with rock solid, quietly stylish direction and the production works from beginning to end.

The world inhabited by Poirot and co is utterly convincing, from the gorgeous Art Deco set to the eye candy costumes worn by both sexes – kudos to designer Simon Scullion and costume designer Nikki Bird.

Black Coffee is classic Christie given a classy treatment. If you’re at all a fan of whodunits, it’s not to be missed.

Running time 2 hrs 10 mins
Run ends Saturday 29 March 2014
Daily 7.30pm; Matinee Weds, Sat 2.30pm.
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ
Tickets from www.edtheatres.com/blackcoffee
Tour website: www.kenwright.com

Black Coffee, Christie’s first stage play, was written in 1929 as a result of her disappointment at the portrayal of Poirot in Alibi, Michael Morton’s 1928 play based on her novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. After her death, Black Coffee was novelised by Charles Osbourne. Click on the images above to purchase script and novelisation from Amazon.

ENDS

Tags: Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie Theatre Company, Ben Nealon, Black Coffee, Felicity Houlbrooke, Gary Mavers, Hercule Poirot, Joe Harmston, King's Theatre, Liza Goddard, Martin Carroll, Martin Gray, Olivia Mace, Review, Robert Powell, Robin McCallum, Theatre