SEPTEMBER 8 – 24, 2022
Evening Performances on Wed – Sat
Dinner @ 6:30
Show @ 7:30
Theatre Only Matinee
Saturday, September 17th @ 2PM
Till the train departs
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CAST AND CREW
DINING
Dinner is a Roast Beef & Chicken Buffet meal. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free meals can be ordered online or by phone when booking your tickets.
FINE WINE FRIDAYS
Beer and Wine are available for purchase on Friday evening shows only. We are working on upgrading our liquor license.
DISCOUNT SHOWS
Tickets are 10% cheaper on Wednesday and Thursday Evening and for the Saturday matinee.
GROUP RATES
All tickets are 10% Off groups of 8 or more and 15% Off groups of 25 or more
Discount is automatic at our online box office or by phone and only when tickets are purchased together.
SHOW WARNINGS
AGES: We recommend this show for ages 12 and up. The most recent film version of this story is rated PG-13 and this is similar. However, parents are encouraged to use their own judgment when choosing shows for children based on their maturity and interest level.
DETAILS: Trigger warning: There are multiple mentions of suicide and a flashback of one in the show. There are several other murders with visuals of fake blood. There will be gunshot sounds. The word “Hell” is used 3 times, and “Damn” once. Prop cigarettes may be
used onstage.
SHOW LENGTH
Approximately 2 ½ hours with a 15 minute intermission.
LOCATION & PARKING
Theatre in the Country is located 5708 Glover Road in Langley, BC.
The main parking lot is at the back of the building and entry to the theatre is off of the parking lot.
FUN FACTS
Regarded as one of Agatha Christie’s greatest achievements, Murder on the Orient Express was first published as a novel in 1934.
The very first publication of the story was in a six-instalment serialisation in the Saturday Evening Post in 1933 in the US, under the title, Murder on the Calais Coach.
The book is dedicated “To M.E.L.M. Arpachiyah, 1933” – Agatha Christie’s second husband, Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan.
It’s likely that the story was drafted when Christie was on an archaeological dig with Max in Arpachiyah, Iraq, although The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul has an Agatha Christie Room where, it claims, she wrote Murder on the Orient Express.
The story was partly inspired by the Lindbergh case; a shocking real-life case following the kidnapping of international hero, Charles Lindbergh’s, 20-month old son who was held for a $50,000 ransom. The ransom was paid, but unfortunately Lindbergh’s son was never returned.
The story was also inspired partly by an incident in 1929 when the Orient Express was trapped in a blizzard in Çerkezköy, Turkey, where it was marooned for six days! Two years later Christie was involved in a similar scenario when she was travelling on the Orient Express and the train got stuck for a period of time due to heavy rainfall and flooding, which washed part of the track away!
Christie first travelled on the Orient Express in 1928 which also happened to be her first solo trip abroad. This was to become the first of many trips on the train.
Agatha Christie’s notable attention to detail is evident throughout the novel. While writing it, she checked cabin layouts, door handles and light switches, noting down their positions. These crucial details would lead Poirot to solve the case.
The dust jacket blurb on the first edition reads: ‘Murder on the Orient Express must rank as one of the most ingenious stories ever devised.’
In 1974 the book was adapted for the big screen. Directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, the film was the 11th highest grossing film of the year.
At the age of 84, Agatha Christie made her last public appearance at the royal premiere of the film in London.
In 2015 Murder on the Orient Express was ranked as the second World’s Favourite Christie, which ranked And Then There Were None in the top spot and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in third place.
From agathachristie.com
JACQ AINSWORTH
Intimacy & Fight Choreo
DAVID BODOR
Hercule Poirot
SIMON CHUNG
Hector McQueen
JOYCE GILESPIE
Princess Natalya Dragomiroff
KIMBALL FINIGAN
Samuel Ratchett
VEDA MAHARAJ
Technical Assistant
AMBER SCHNEIDER
Stage Manager
REG PARKS
Producer/Set Design
LEITH WAAGE
Stage Crew
JUNE AISWORTH
Director
SHELLEY BOE
Costume Assistant
GRAHAM COATES
Technical Director
COE GILLIS
Assistant Stage Manger
CASSIDY FLYMAN
Greta Ohlsson
ELLIOT MORRISON
Set Foreman
HANA SHIELS
Mary Debenham
KELLY THOMPSON
Mrs. Helen Hubbard
ANDREW WOOD
M. Constantine Bouc
BURAK ATSAN
Michel & Head Waiter
LAURA BURNS
Countess Elena Andrenyi
EM DOME
Costume Designer
GAIUS HUNT
Lighting Design
DOVERSHIN MACRAE
Col. James Arbuthnot
JOSHUA OSBORNE
Sound Design
ERIN PARKS
Promotion/Projection Design
JULIE WAAGE
Props Design/Set Decoration