Murder on the Nile Theatre Review

Showing at the Norwich Theatre Royal until Sept. 29th

When we hear ‘Murder Mystery’, most of us think of Agatha Christie. We expect glamour, scandal, complexity and, most importantly, characters that keep us guessing. In Murder on the Nile, The Official Agatha Christie Theatre Company has a fantastic range of characters to play with, and on the most part the company manages to charm us with them. It’s a challenge to keep an audience hooked during an information filled, one-set character drama, and the show does struggle with the material at times. However, there is glamour and certainly talent aboard.

The play follows a small group of passengers upon a Nile cruise, including honeymooning heiress Kay and her penniless new husband Simon. Amongst the other passengers are Kay’s reverend uncle and Simon’s jaded ex-fiancée, Jackie. Jackie’s presence causes growing tension among the guests, but no one is prepared for the discovery of a corpse. The guests all jump to conclusions about the murderer, but can anybody else on board really be trusted?

In an ensemble piece – especially a murder mystery – every link needs to be a strong one. Sadly, it is Susie Amy, the actress of Kay, who weakens the group. Perhaps the Footballer’s Wives star is unused to the demands of stage projection. Whatever the reason, lines intended for a spellbinding if somewhat dizzy-headed heiress are instead delivered in a constant throaty bellow. Amy lacks intonations; she treats every line like a melodramatic accusation, dropping words like bombshells instead of with the subtlety demanded by a murder mystery role.

However, her cast-mates work hard to bring credibility to scenes despite this challenge.  Robert Duncan (Gus Hedges in multi-award winning Drop the Dead Donkey) gives an excellent performance as Kay’s uncle. Duncan is on stage for most of the play and is responsible not only for progressing most of the plot, but also for bringing a moral and emotional gravity to the production. Equally, praise must be given to young and flamboyant Max Hutchinson, who lightens the mood as the comical, love-struck socialist. In fact, most performances show great talent – but sadly, time restraints don’t allow these characters the attention they deserve. Instead, we are left with the considerably weaker love-triangle.

These time restraints cause the play other issues. Potential red herrings cannot be well sewn, meaning that though the audience is thrown a lot of information, the plot never manages to feel complex. It is a shame that the play struggles with these hitches when there is clearly so much honest talent at work. As well as the strong actors, every costume is stunning and the set makes it very tempting to climb aboard, take a seat and order a cocktail. The atmosphere is tangible.  If you can face a few hammy performances then you will be rewarded with some real gems – but enter pre-warned.

Show times: 7.30 pm every night, plus a 2.30 show on Sat. 29th