Murder on the Nile is Too Long, Too Wordy

By John Farrell, Curtain Call Writer

Don’t be surprised if Murder on the Nile doesn’t quite take you on a journey that you expect.

Agatha Christie play, which opened at the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage Theatre, is genuine Christie, but it shouldn’t be confused with Death on the Nile, the 1978 film that featured Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.

Or maybe it should be. Murder on the Nile was written by Christie in 1944, when she was thoroughly tired of Poirot. (She wasn’t the only mystery writer who got tired of her sleuth: Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes but finally had to bring him back to life.) She wrote the play expressly excluding Poirot and Captain Hastings. It was a moderate success in London but ran only a dozen performances when it came to Broadway. At the opening the house was a sell-out, but many playgoers may have been disappointed when Canon Pennefather (Playhouse stalwart Gregory Cohen in the only role in the play that wasn’t a caricature) solved the mystery in Poirot’s absence.

Director Sharyn Case gave us the whole play, including more than a little politically-incorrect dialogue and a less-than-audience friendly length of nearly three hours. (It was a three act play originally and the first two acts were run together.) There was much setting-up of characters, both comic and possibly evil. Even Pennefather was under suspicion. When the final act, with a murder and deductions, finally was over, one wondered why the whole thing couldn’t have been done in half the time.

The set, a recreation of the lounge of a Nile steamer, was effective (thanks to Gregory Fritsche) and the costumes were accurate if a little warm. (The theater, however, wasn’t.)

The play inaugurated the Playhouse’s 2015 season. It will get better.

Tickets are $24, $21 for seniors and $17 for students. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m., through Feb.15.

Details: (562) 494-1014; www.lbplayhouse.org
Venue: Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage Theatre
Location: 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach