When I was studying abroad, I went through an Agatha Christie phase- the main reason being that I could understand her books in Spanish as they were not too difficult! I have built up a picture of many of the characters in my head and last night's performance did not detract from that image.
Poirot, played by Harvey Wright on this occasion, the meticulous not so pear-shaped detective first appeared in 1920 in the novel ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles'. Poirot did not appear on the stage until 1930 in the play ‘Black Coffee' where it had a successful run at The Embassy Theatre and then the West End, where it ran for several months.
Hercule Poirot and his friend Arthur Hastings are summoned to visit a famous physicist, Sir Claud Amory, but they discover on their arrival that he has been murdered. The plot revolves around a stolen formula, with Poirot deducing which of Sir Claud's house guests/family members is the killer.
The play takes place in the living room and the characters spend their time coming in and out of this main room. The story is a humdinger and kept me guessing till the end- I was convinced that it was Lucia!
Poirot ( Harvey) does not try and imitate David Suchet, who successfully put his stamp on the rôle in television and film, but comes up with a fun characterisation of the wise detective on his own. I firmly believe that Harvey has grown in confidence over the past three years and this is his best performance yet! He not only had many lines to learn and they were well-delivered, but some of the expressions on his face and subtle moves were just amazing. To quote Poirot : ‘Myself, I played the part rather well!' and he did!
Alice (Miss Caroline Amory) is as charasmatic as ever in her fabulous furs- is she acting or is this an older Alice ? She delivers her lines with such aplomb and her xenophobia is quite comical but typical of those days. We often forget that this cast are 11, 12 and 13 years old- quite outstanding characterisation.
The first person on stage was Nathan as Tredwell, the Butler- he looked very smart in his black waistcoat and delivered his lines with poise and clarity. He looked quite at ease on the stage and again has grown in confidence.
Lucia (Angela Watson), ‘la pauvre dame', played a similar character to last year -she had an enormous amount of lines to learn and she did not disappoint. She hammed it up to just the right level and I believe her Friday night's performance was even better than the Dress Rehearsal that I saw! I was thinking that she was going to ditch poor Richard for the ‘charming but mysterious' Dr Carelli played by Annabelle Blackburn. She had a super Italian accent and did well swapping from one accent and language to another. Annabelle rose to the occasion playing a male character and carried it off very well!
This was Eddy Lodge's first speaking rôle, he looked dapper in his dinner suit and then more casually in his cricket gear. He had a lot of lines and it was quite ironic that a lot of his lines could be construed as having a personal touch- Colonel Lodge nearly laughed louder than the producer/director!
Emma, (Barbara Amory), the niece of the deceased was a real'flirty gerty' and she chatted up Hastings (Serena Winn-Darley ) with relish. It was rather funny when Barbara said to Hastings ‘ He was positively pre-war!'
I have always felt quite sorry for Hastings, as Poirot is quite rude to his dear friend when he talks about his ‘little grey cells and ‘the grin of the sheep' and ‘a very good dog'. Serena's great line: 'What the hell is all this?' I can just hear Serena saying this when confronted with some French verbs! Again, like Annabelle, Serena carried this part well and looked very sporty in her stripy blazer. It was good to see her jumping to attention when Poirot called .
Steven played the part of Sir Claud Amory, the severe Uncle who looked very fierce in his dinner suit and a grey streak running down the front of his hair. He delivered his lines with rapid fire- he too had a quantity of complicated lines to learn. This was Steven's first outing on the stage and he played his part well.
Eliza, the efficient Dr Graham, looked as glamorous as ever in her green suit .She had poise and she delivered her lines with flair. She was a very competent Doctor and very plausible!
The two Year 7 pupils had lots to say at the end, Thomas, aka Mr. Edward Raynor, the Secretary of Sir Claud, always looked suspicious but I was never sure he was the thief or murderer! Thomas's voice was clear, resonant and articulate and he moved around the stage well. He has clearly learnt a lot after last Summer's experience treading the boards!
Last but not least, Abi, Inspector Japp, who has definitely been watching too much ‘Eastenders' was astonishing. She was fabulously expressive and confident and looked very stylish with her detective's mac.
Johnson and Jackson, Jack and Tom looked like extras from ‘The Men in Black' and were very patient and had super timing. I would not like to be arrested by them! There was no way that the Secretary was going to escape!
All in all, an excellent play, Congratulations and thank you to Mr and Mrs Glen for all the hard work they have put in and well done to all the children for their efforts. As a Year 8 Form Tutor, I am proud of each and every one of them! A special thanks to the backstage crew of Chelsea, Ella, Scarlett, Lily,Iona and Joe who did a splendid job and were largely unseen!
Claire Grant
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