With strong performances and a standout set and costume design, Ken Ludwig’s DEATH ON THE NILE is a stylish and inventive adaptation of Agatha Christie’s well-known novel.
Any adaptation of a well-known work by a much-loved author is a tight walk between pastiche and underrepresentation. However, Ken Ludwig’s latest production of DEATH ON THE NILE manages to both reinvent and pay homage to one of Agatha Christie’s most well-known works.
The play begins not in Karnak itself, but a few months earlier at the British Museum, where the audience sees the backstory established. This is a welcome change from the usual explanations of previous events that we normally see through conversations on the Karnak itself.
Mark Hadfield is outstanding as a witty and circumspect Poirot with more overt humour than you would normally expect, and his foil, the shady MI5 agent Colonel Race, played by Bob Barrett, creates a good double act of mirth. The central lover’s triangle is well-paced, and Esme Hough as Jacqueline de Bellefort especially portrays a woman in mental turmoil effectively.
The ensemble cast are all well equipped to create the pace of the narrative and fit nicely into their respective roles with every actor fully believable as their character. Special mention to Glynis Barber as the hammy Salome Otterbourne, a woman who believes in her own abilities to the exclusion of actual talent and who Terence Wilton’s Septimus Troy cannot escape from once she has decided he is of use.
The star of the show, however, is the set created by Mike Britton with lighting by Oliver Fenwick, which is cinematic in design with a split-level “screen” for the action and is reminiscent of Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW. This is very inventive, and even the daily life of the cruise ship is shown in the background, which gives a nice sense of place to the work.
The use of light and shade with the sliding doors of the berths is very effective and creates a feel of the closeted world within the ship; everyone being connected and yet separate. Alongside the sound design of Mic Pool, this contributes to the feeling of suspense, with the pace picking up in the second act as we race towards the denouement. The clues are there in throwaway comments, but blink and you would miss them, which is always the mark of a good adaptation.
As well as the set and lighting design the costumes are a joy, with Sarah Holland and Elizabeth Marini working well to illustrate the inner characters well from the rich heiress and her golden dress to the workhorse financial secretary in her sensible tweeds. Their work conveys the decadence of the era and the smell of money. Every trick has been utilised to create the perfect mise en scene for the work and under the direction of Lucy Bailey the play is both enjoyable, stylish and a visual treat.
There have been many adaptations of this work by Christie with varying degrees, however, Ken Ludwig’s adaptation, like his previous MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, succeeds in conveying the opulence of the time, the suspense of the murder and investigation and above all is a truly highly enjoyable evening of theatre. Ms Christie’s works have never been in safer hands.
DEATH ON THE NILE runs at the Lowry, Salford until 4 October 2025.
Gillian has a Masters degree in Film Theory and a background in music journalism. A veteran of gig promotion, she loves nothing more than a darkened room, a packet of Revels and a good play. By day she works in medico-legal administration, by night she escapes into theatre for relaxation.
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