★★★★

“Each performer is in tune with the requisite balance of light and shade – humour and suspense”

Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, has become one of the most recognisable figures in detective fiction, first appearing in print over a century ago. So popular was he, that when he died from a heart attack in the 1975 novel, ‘Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case’, Poirot was the only fictional character to receive an obituary on the front page of the New York Times. It is no surprise that the dignified and diminutive detective found himself portrayed in film by the likes of such heavyweights as David Suchet, Peter Ustinov and Kenneth Branagh.

Anyone who steps into his shoes has a formidable legacy to live up to. Mark Hadfield, in Ken Ludwig’s touring stage adaptation of “Death on the Nile”, slips into them comfortably. Stylishly directed by Lucy Bailey, the assumption is that the majority of the audience will know the story, so characterisation and atmosphere take centre stage, with the mystery sidelined to the wings. Bailey still manages to keep the suspense, opening with a London street scene in which two lovers are entwined in romantic complicity. Poirot watches on as the mist swirls. We are in film noir territory before Hadfield steps out of the shadows and speaks directly to us. A glint in his eye, and subtle inflections in his accent, are a tacit and conspiratorial directive not to take things too seriously. In fact, as the play progresses, we increasingly realise how adept Ludwig is at eking out gentle humour from Christie’s story.

A glittery party at the British Museum introduces the principal characters, before the action shifts to the Nile cruise ship. Designer Mike Britton leads us from land to water with impossibly slick dexterity on his two-tiered set. Slatted panels slide and shift revealing layers and secrets. There is an undercurrent of furtive activity behind the main action downstage. Mic Pool’s sound design mixes folksy Egyptian musical motifs with the lapping waves of the Nile and nighttime cries of wildlife; while Oliver Fenwick’s lighting follows the various moods with precision. Evoking the setting, too, are the costumes with their mix of muted beiges for the men and floating, art deco chic for the women.

The play moves at quite a pace. It is no spoiler to reveal that a gunshot closes act one while the discovery of a dead body introduces the second act. From here Poirot moves towards his conclusion in breathtaking time. Unusually, not everyone is a suspect – the detective has already narrowed it down a fair bit. That doesn’t prevent us from getting to know the delightful personalities that have followed each other (unwittingly or otherwise) onto the ship. Central to the piece are newlyweds Linnet (Libby Alexandra-Cooper) and Simon (Nye Occomore). Simon, unfortunately, was hitherto engaged to the furious Jacqueline de Bellefort (Esme Hough) who seems intent on some sort of revenge (but remember, all is not what it seems). Each performer is in tune with the requisite balance of light and shade – humour and suspense. Bob Barrett, as Poirot’s old friend and sidekick Colonel Race, is a delight to watch. Glynis Barber’s hack-writer-turned-ham-actress Salome provides wonderful comic relief. The cameos and ensemble are all as important as the lead players, but it is Alexandra-Cooper’s stage debut as Linnet that shines. A natural performer and a name to look out for.

A couple of clumsy moments are in danger of tripping up the otherwise slick flow, but the tour has only just set sail, and these will be ironed out in due course. Yet the confidence of the company steers it through its choppier moments. And the sense of fun is truly infectious. The customary denouement when Poirot calls everyone together for his summing up is greeted with derision by the characters as they momentarily break out of their roles. ‘I hate this part’, says Colonel Race. ‘I love it’ retorts Poirot. An epilogue, delivered direct to the audience, neatly gives us closure.

This interpretation of “Death on the Nile” has a style all of its own. There is only one verdict, really, and it doesn’t need a Belgian detective to spell it out. Go and see it for yourself. Et, viola… Mon ami!

ULSTER AMERICAN at Riverside Studios

★★★★★

“A play about crossing the line within a play that frequently crosses the line”

David Ireland’s “Ulster American” touches on just about every topic that gets people’s blood boiling, and in the space of an hour and a half, inflates them in order to puncture them with the sharp skewer of satire that he has become famed for. Somewhere along the line during his career, Ireland has come to think that he wants to offend people. “As a writer, I want to be socially irresponsible” he once stated in an interview about his latest offering. “If you won’t produce it because of the reaction, that’s a very frightening place for us all to be in”. Fortunately for us, his play has been produced. It divided critics at its premiere in Edinburgh in 2018 and is now testing the waters in West London with Jeremy Herrin’s star-studded revival.

The premise is a joke. The old ‘Englishman, Irishman and American’ variety. But that is the only thing it has in common. From the outset, the humour is considerably darker, and the punchline is jet black. Set in real time, the evening before rehearsals start for a new play in London, it brings the three key players together in a night that spirals out of control. Jay Conway (Woody Harrelson) is the Oscar-winning actor taking the lead in the play that connects with his Irish roots. Leigh Carver (Andy Serkis) is the ambitious director who will do anything to get noticed. Ruth Davenport (Louisa Harland) is the Northern Irish playwright whose voice must be heard.

Ruth is late for the meeting, and so we are greeted by the two men killing time by indulging in some shocking banter. Harrelson’s self-aggrandising Hollywood star, Jay, is definitely the alpha male while Serkis, as Leigh, hovers between alpha and beta, unsure when to let his obsequiousness make way for his own voice. Both men are ‘feminists’, or so they say. Both men are deluded. But there is something far more dangerous going on than the mere misappropriation of language and self-appointed labels. And it takes Ruth not only to light the fuse, but also to detonate it. Many bombshells are dropped in the process, provoking the echoing thought in our minds; ‘did they really just say that?’

“You might not want to look at it, but you ought to go and see this play”

The three actors are simply outstanding in their roles. Serkis skilfully deploys the many faces of a politician as he fluctuates between squirming smiles and contradictions, until his real temperament is revealed when he realises the game is up. Harrelson hilariously cuts a ridiculous figure, wielding male self-righteousness like a loaded firearm, while Ruth catches the bullets in her teeth to spit them back. Harland’s character, despite the play attempting to establish a precarious female centric quality, is perhaps the least likeable of the three. Initially starstruck at meeting an idol in Jay, we don’t quite believe her rapid and absolute switch to the dominant, immutable, writer-diva with the authority to dictate that not one word of her script can be altered. Come on, we’re dealing with an Oscar winning actor here!

Among the topics that are ripped apart are national and personal identity, religion, loyalty, power, misogyny, feminism, gender, responsibility, Brexit, politics, territory, the ‘N’ word, #MeToo, culture, censorship, social media, rape, blackmail… you name it. But the focus is drawn back to the power balance between men and women. Words the two men carelessly let spill from their unfiltered mouths are later taken out of context and then used to make or break one another’s careers. Or lives. There is plenty of food for thought as the stakes get higher and higher, and these deplorable characters reach dizzying heights of ridicule. What is alarming, however, is the proximity to reality. The damage of misconstrued words is a genuine threat in our society.

“Ulster American” is a play within a play. A play about crossing the line within a play that frequently crosses the line. The satire occasionally adopts an over-daubed, ‘painting-by-numbers’ style. And the zeitgeist that Ireland vividly expresses gets somewhat washed away as the play dives headlong into farce, and the realms of cartoon barbarity. The violence is less shocking than the dialogue. Perhaps this is deliberate. Are words a more terrifying weapon than actions?

The three actors give thrilling performances that throw moral acceptances into the wind and let us pick up the pieces to try and make sense of them. It is insanely funny and deeply flawed. It will provoke discussion – even arguments, but hopefully not as extreme. You never know though. That is what is so vital about Ireland’s writing. Yes – it is heightened and unreal. But however warped, it is still a mirror to our fractured society. You might not want to look at it, but you ought to go and see this play.

Tag Archives: Oliver Fenwick

DEATH ON THE NILE

★★★★

UK Tour

DEATH ON THE NILE

Richmond Theatre

★★★★

“Each performer is in tune with the requisite balance of light and shade – humour and suspense”

DEATH ON THE NILE

Richmond Theatre then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 9th October 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Manuel Harlan

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE 39 STEPS | ★★★★★ | April 2024

DRACULA | ★★★ | March 2022

DEATH ON THE NILE

DEATH ON THE NILE

DEATH ON THE NILE

Ulster American

★★★★★

Riverside Studios

ULSTER AMERICAN at Riverside Studios

★★★★★

“A play about crossing the line within a play that frequently crosses the line”

“You might not want to look at it, but you ought to go and see this play”