Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express

Adapted for the stage by KEN LUDWIG

Directed by DAN BAIN

SEASON SPONSOR CORE FUNDER

SHOW SPONSOR

WHAT IS THE MEASURE OF A FULL LIFE?

At Ryman, we believe the measure of a full life is one that gets richer with age.

Rediscover lost passions and plunge headfirst into new ones. Surround yourself with new people, old friends and close family. Live with opportunities and experiences at your doorstep.

That’s why we’re creating communities that challenge the expectations of ageing, and investing in organisations that bring joy and meaning to our residents and team members.

Ryman are proud sponsors of The Court Theatre.

KERRY

Ryman Resident

WAKEFIELD

NAU MAI HAERE MAI

Agatha Christie is not known as the “Queen of Crime” nor remained one of the bestselling authors of all time for nothing.

Ken Ludwig has adapted one of Agatha Christie’s most celebrated books, Murder on the Orient Express (1934), staying true to its literary skill and realising its theatrical potential. This adaptation is a superb opportunity to show off a cast and creative team with a strong intuition for dramatic tension, character, and wit—and just the right measure of camp.

We are thrilled to have consummate director, Dan Bain, at the helm. Dan brings a confident theatricality to his work, along with an astute understanding of timing—essential to both the comedy and mystery of Agatha Christie. The phenomenal cast will be recognisable to loyal Court audiences, and similarly bring comedic nous, polish, and en pointe characterisation to their iconic roles.

The Court Theatre is unique in Aotearoa as a professional producing company, and we take great pride in capturing each theatrical world through the creativity and skill of our designers and production team. This lush and extravagant production calls upon the talents of over 50 creatives to bring every detail of Agatha Christie’s world to life. These artists and technicians are all exceptional in their fields.

These are the collaborations that, together with the work of the entire Court Theatre Company, allow us to do what we do best, bringing you world-class, transportive theatre, rich in visual and sonic effect.

Theatre famously holds a mirror up to nature, but it also invites us to step into worlds of our own making. Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express offers a luxurious escape into a world of mystery, intrigue, heightened comedic panache.

What better sponsor for a production such as this than Great Journeys—a company that knows the joys of train travel and the thrill of escape? We are supremely grateful to Great Journeys for their support, as we are to all our supporters, and to you, our audience. Thank you for coming to the first show of the Ryman Healthcare 2024 Season. We hope you find inspiration and entertainment in the many different productions we have curated for our last season in “The Shed” in Addington before we make the exciting move to our new theatre in the Performing Arts Precinct in the first quarter of 2025.

Welcome aboard. We’re delighted to have you with us, and we know you’ll enjoy the ride!

STEVE

Executive Chair and Acting CE ALISON WALLS Artistic Director

Adapted for the stage by KEN LUDWIG

CAST

Hercule Poirot ............................................................. James Kupa

Monsieur Bouc ................................................................. Dan Allan

Mary Debenham ........................................................ Millie Hanford

Hector MacQueen ...................................................... Andrew Todd

Michel the Conductor/Head Waiter ...................................... Roy Snow

Princess Dragomiroff .................................................. Yvonne Martin

Greta Ohlsson .........................................................

Kathleen Burns

Countess Andrenyi .......................................... Monique Clementson

Helen Hubbard ........................................... Juliet Reynolds-Midgley

Colonel Arbuthnot/Samuel Ratchett ................................... Ben Freeth

PRODUCTION

Director ........................................................................... Dan Bain

Set Designer ......................................................... Julian Southgate

Lighting Designer .........................................................

Giles Tanner

Costume Designer ...................................................... Findlay Currie

Costume Construction ................................................. Pauline Laws

Annie Graham

Louise Galloway

Daniella Salazar

Wig Stylist ................................................... Rachael Mountstevens

Sound Designer .............................................................. Matt Short

Stage Manager ................................................................. Jo Bunce

Assistant Stage Manager ............................................

Louise Topping

Assistant Stage Manager ........................................ Taylor Ballantyne

Intimacy Direction .................................................... Kira Josephson

Properties Assistant ....................................................

Rosie Gilmore

Kristin Clark

Rochelle Wright

Set Construction .......................................................

Matthew Duffy

Seth Ellis

Edward Roche

Show Operator ............................................................... Geoff Nunn

Running Time: 2 hours 10 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

AgathaChristie’sMurderOn TheOrientExpress adapted by Ken Ludwig was originally staged by McCarter Theater Center, Princeton, NJ Emily Mann, Artistic Director, Timothy J. Shields, Managing Director.

The production subsequently transferred to Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT. Darko Tresnjak, Artistic Director; Michael Stotts, Managing Director.

MurderontheOrientExpress © 2016 Agatha Christie Limited & Ken Ludwig. All rights reserved.

Adapted from Murder on the OrientExpress © 1934 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, AGATHA CHRISTIE and POIROT and the Agatha Christie Signature are registered trademarks of Agatha Christie Limited in the UK and elsewhere. All rights reserved.

The rights to this play are controlled by Agatha Christie Ltd.

For further information about this play, others by Agatha Christie and about other stage adaptations of her stories, please visit: agathachristie.com

Contains: Adult themes, references to the death of a child, depictions of death and suicide AgathaChristie’sMurderontheOrientExpress was staged at The Court Theatre from 2 March to 6 April 2024.

KEN LUDWIG AUTHOR

Ken Ludwig has had six productions on Broadway and eight in London’s West End. His 34 plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States every night of the year.

His first play, Lend Me a Tenor, won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. Crazy For You is currently running on London’s West End. It was previously on Broadway for five years, on the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical.

In addition, he has won the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theatre, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Charles MacArthur Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year. His other plays include Moon Over Buffalo, Leading Ladies, Baskerville, Sherwood, Twentieth Century, Dear Jack, Dear Louise, A Fox on the Fairway, A Comedy of Tenors, The Game’s Afoot, Shakespeare in Hollywood and Murder on the Orient Express. They have starred, among others, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Kristen Bell, Tony Shalhoub, Joan Collins and Henry Goodman.

His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin Random House, won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year, and his essays on theatre are published in the Yale Review. He gives the Annual Ken Ludwig Playwriting Scholarship at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, and he served on the Board of Governors for the Folger Shakespeare Library for ten years. His first opera, Tenor Overboard, opened at the Glimmerglass Festival in July 2022. His most recent world premieres were Lend Me A Soprano and Moriarty, and his newest plays and musicals include Pride and Prejudice Part 2: Napoleon at Pemberley and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.

His plays include commissions from Agatha Christie Limited, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe Theatre, and the Bristol Old Vic. For more information visit www.kenludwig.com.

AGATHA CHRISTIE AUTHOR

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and, in many languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 66 crime novels, 150 short stories, over 25 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott. Her work includes Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and the genre-defining And Then There Were None.

Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written towards the end of the First World War, in which she served in the VAD. In it she created Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. It was published by Bodley Head in 1920.

In 1926, after averaging a book a year, Agatha Christie wrote her first masterpiece. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the first of her books to be published by Collins and marked the beginning of an authorpublisher relationship that lasted for 50 years and well over 70 books. ‘Ackroyd’ was

also the first of Agatha Christie’s books to be dramatised –under the title Alibi –and to have a successful run in London’s West End.

By 1930, Agatha had introduced a new character to act as detective. When she created Miss Marple, Agatha did not expect her to become Poirot’s rival, but with The Murder at the Vicarage, Miss Marple’s first full length outing, it appeared she had produced another popular and enduring character. The Mousetrap, her most successful play of all, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history.

Agatha Christie was made a dame in 1971. She died in 1976.

Agatha Christie Limited (ACL) has been managing the literary and media rights to Agatha Christie’s works around the world since 1955, working with the best talents in film, television, publishing, stage and on digital platforms to ensure that Christie’s work continues to reach new audiences in innovative ways and to the highest standard. The company is managed by Christie’s great grandson James Prichard.

Visit www.agathachristie.com for more information.

SYNOPSIS

Celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is called back from Istanbul to London on urgent business.

The luxurious Orient Express, run by Poirot’s former friend and colleague, Monsieur Bouc, is unusually full for the time of year, but Bouc secures him a berth in the first-class cabin. Poirot’s fellow passengers on the three-day journey include the Russian Princess Dragomiroff; her Swedish companion, Greta Ohlsson; the Hungarian Countess Andrenyi; Helen Hubbard from Minnesota; the Scottish Colonel Arbuthnot; an English governess, Mary Debenham; a disagreeable American businessman, Samuel Ratchett; and his anxious secretary, Hector MacQueen. Michel is the French conductor of the train. Poirot senses a disturbing tension amidst this Balzacian cast of characters.

As the train departs, Ratchett corners Poirot, insisting that Poirot investigate a series of threatening letters Ratchett has received, but Poirot refuses. Just after midnight, the heavy snow that has been swirling all night halts the Orient Express in its tracks, and in the morning one of the passengers is found stabbed multiple times in their locked compartment. Poirot is tasked by Monsieur Bouc to solve the murder. With no footprints in the snow outside, the killer must be among them. A myriad of conflicting clues and convoluted alibis emerge as Poirot seeks to solve the case of the Murder on the Orient Express.

A famous detective, and famously meticulous Belgian.

A middle-aged Belgian of good humour. Director of the Wagon-Lit train company.

A middle-aged American businessman; brusque and unforgiving with a threatening demeanour, and a whiplash of a voice.

An English beauty in her late twenties with a sadness in her eyes.

An expensively dressed and heavily bejewelled Russian in her seventies.

A nervous young American in his thirties, with a strained, rather beleaguered face.

A Swedish woman in her thirties; a devout Christian, with a frightened sheep-like quality about her.

A good-looking Frenchman, about forty, with a quiet, almost grave, sense of humour.

DAN BAIN

DIRECTOR / RINGATOHU

There’s something exquisitely pleasing about a good mystery.

The combination of the familiar and the surprising merges together in a way that is almost irresistible. It tickles away at something in both the lizard - danger! - part of our brains, and in the clever clogs thinking part. A good one is like watching an incredibly beautiful puzzle box unfolding and then turning in on itself before finally releasing its true purpose. Unexpected, yet perfectly believable.

And this is a good one. By the absolute master.

The danger with muddling about with something so exquisitely crafted is you take it to pieces and then can’t get it back together again, and you’re just left with the bits. Or, there’s a weird left over spring and although it looks important, you can’t work out where it came from at all. Or, sure, it works, but now every ninety seconds it makes a horrible crunching

noise, and it smells faintly of beeswax and old socks.

Fortunately Ken Ludwig’s adaptation takes the meat of Murder and streamlines it for the stage without forgetting the heart of what makes the story great. Theatre isn’t a book, and it certainly isn’t a film, so there may well be things you’ll miss. But there are also things that theatre can do that neither of these forms can…. Books evoke, film literally portrays, but theatre? Theatre can do magic.

I am delighted in my return to The Court Theatre to be reunited with a team of theatrical wizards, and a cast of my absolute favourite character actors in bringing this classic to life in a way that I hope feels fresh, feels faithful, and feels magical in the way that only live theatre can.

CAST

James is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School (Bachelor of Performing Arts: Acting) and The Eastern Institute of Technology (Diploma of Performing Arts: Acting). His Previous Court Theatre credits include The Perfumed Garden (2010) at the Forge, Frankenstein (2021) The Girl on the Train (2022) Dance Nation (2023) and Scared Scriptless as part of the Court Jesters. His other theatre credits include Betty’s Summer Vacation, Twelfth Night (Toi Whakaari); A Streetcar Named Desire (Circa Theatre); Strange Resting Places (Taki Rua); Penalties, Pints and Pirouettes (Centrepoint Theatre); A Lion in the Meadow (Tim Bray Productions); Toy’s, Cancel Santa, The Flight before Christmas and Dungeons & Comedians (Little Andromeda). James’ television credits include Dark City: The Cleaner, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Ka Pai Living, Agent Anna and Nothing Trivial.

Dan is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate in Theatre Studies at the University of Otago. His previous Court Theatre acting credits include: Paintbox of Clowns; The Gingerbread Man; and Alice in Wonderland: In the Attic, which he co-wrote with his wife Lisa Allan. Dan directed The Emperor’s New Clothes and was a member of the Court Jesters between 2003 and 2009. His other acting credits include: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Body in Space); The 39 Steps (Theatre Alive); The Importance of Being Earnest (Body in Space); The 39 Steps (Theatre Alive); and The Odyssey (Noosed Octopus). Further directing credits include Star Seed; Metamorphoses; and Around the World in 80 Days (Body in Space). For their work with Body in Space theatre company, Dan and Lisa were awarded the Nelson Mail Nelsonian of the Year for Arts. The pair also inaugurated the Nelson Fringe Festival.

Millie is a graduate of the Actors’ Program (Certificate of Acting) and University of Canterbury (Bachelor of Arts). Her previous Court Theatre credits include Lysistrata; The Early Early Late Show; A Paintbox of Clowns; Hansel and Gretel; Escape from Haunted House and Scared Scriptless. Her other theatre credits include Two Girls One Shop (MDMA) which she also co-wrote; Nora: A Dolls House (The Actors Program); Bullrush and various TAPAC kids shows. Millie began at The Court Theatre as a member of The Court Youth Company and then as a Court Jester, regularly performing in Scared Scriptless. Millie has also been a Teaching Artist at The Court, teaching and assisting with both drama and improvisational classes, and launched the Jesters Youth Company in 2021. When not teaching at The Court Theatre, Millie is a certified dance teaching specialising in Jazz, Tap, and Musical Theatre, having gained BAL Tap Advanced and ADJA Jazz Advanced Two with Honours.

JAMES KUPA

Hercule Poirot

DAN ALLAN Monsieur Bouc

MILLIE HANF0RD

Mary Debenham

KAHUI KIRIWHAKAARI

Andrew is a multidisciplinary creative professional from Ōtautahi. Since joining the Court Jesters in 2006, his theatre career has encompassed writing, directing, acting, design, and more, across more than 70 productions. Court Theatre highlights include creating video projections for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Hedwig and the Angry Inch; adapting H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine into a children’s show; and playing a depressed horse in The Wind in the Willows. Outside theatre, Andrew works as a freelance writer, filmmaker, and story consultant, with multiple feature film projects in development. He also records music, makes animated short films, and performs stand-up comedy. His play Class Act will premiere at Little Andromeda in 2024.

Roy is a Court Theatre regular with numerous appearances over the last 15 years, most recently onstage in Appropriate, The Girl on the Train and Little Shop of Horrors. Further Court Theatre credits include End of the Rainbow; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Chicago and Ladies Night. Last seen with the Auckland Theatre Company in their acclaimed production of North By Northwest, his other theatre credits include The Rocky Horror Show and Cabaret (ATC); The Threepenny Opera (Silo Theatre); The Phantom of the Opera; Les Misérables and Evita (Showbiz Christchurch). Roy can be found renovating his old house in Geraldine, keeping his wife happy and walking his daughter’s pug Tibbers.

R0Y SN0W

Michel the Conductor /Head Waiter

Yvonne first appeared with The Court in 1979 and since that time has performed as an actor/singer/director in over 130 shows. In 1988, she was created an Associate of The Court. Her previous Court Theatre credits include Hedda Garbler; Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1988 & 2006); Uncle Vanya (1991 & 2008); The School for Scandal; Mother Courage; The Beauty Queen of Leenane; August: Osage County and Romeo and Juliet. Other credits include Sweeney Todd; Aunt Daisy (Downstage Theatre); Into the Woods (Watershed, Auckland); Gypsy; Cabaret; and Mary Poppins. Directing credits include Shadowlands; Death and the Maiden; Putting It Together; Trainspotting; End of the Rainbow and Educating Rita. Film and Television credits include Starlight Hotel; A Week of It and Shortland Street. Yvonne has directed for Canterbury Repertory, tutored and directed for NASDA, and performed with the Canterbury Symphony Orchestra.

ANDREW TODD

Hector MacQueen

YV0NNE MARTIN Princess Dragomiroff

KATHLEEN BURNS

Greta 0hlsson

Kathleen began her career as a Court Jester in 2003 and still performs in Scared Scriptless. She is a graduate of the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA). Her previous Court Theatre credits include Ladies Night; Educating Rita; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Steel Magnolias; The Pink Hammer; Grease; Bloodbrothers; RENT and Sense and Sensibility. Her other theatre credits from around the country include A Servant to Two Masters; Under Milkwood; Cinderella and The Little Mermaid (Circa Theatre); Avenue Q; Five Women Wearing the Same Dress and Flagons and Foxtrots (Fortune Theatre); Perfuct Storm and Feminist Yarns with Kathleen Burns (Little Andromeda). Kathleen’s screen credits include Sextortion (TVNZ); Working Class, and Ghost Shark 2. Kathleen made her mainstage directorial debut with Flagons and Foxtrots at The Court Theatre in 2022 and is directing Fun Home later this year.

Monique is an experienced Television and Theatre performer in NZ. She hosted an afternoon show called THE FEED on TVNZ2, and she recently finished a season at The Court Theatre playing Bea in Something Rotten! She has starred in multiple musicals across the country including RENT; Jesus Christ Superstar; Les Misérables; Little Shop of Horrors and Sister Act.

Her other performance credits at The Court Theatre include Jersey Boys; Legally Blonde the Musical; Wind in the Willows; The Arsonists; Time Machine; Cinderella in Space; Puff the Magic Dragon; A Paintbox of Clowns and Crash Bash. Monique teaches Aerial fitness at Altitude Pole & Fitness. She loves Latin dancing and she drinks a Pinot Gris should you ever be tempted to leave a bottle at reception for her.

Juliet is a singer and an actress who grew up and began her career in England. She has performed in the UK, Italy, and the Caribbean. As a singer of jazz, classical, pop and music theatre repertoire Juliet has enjoyed a varied career and has been a featured artist with the CSO on numerous occasions. While still in the UK she appeared as a soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra for Radio 2. Previous Court Theatre credits include Side by Side by Sondheim; Calendar Girls; August: Osage County; Blood Brothers; The Mikado; One Man Two Guvnors; Once and Flagons and Foxtrots. Other performance credits include Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast and Mamma Mia (Showbiz Christchurch). As well as performing, Juliet is passionate about teaching at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) and seeing new work and new artists flourish.

Ben has immersed himself in theatre since graduating from the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) with a Bachelor of Performing Arts. His previous Court Theatre credits as an actor include Romeo and Juliet; Mary Poppins; Legally Blonde the Musical; Chicago; Titus Andronicus; Jesus Christ Superstar; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; The Wind in the Willows; Jersey Boys; Little Shop of Horrors; Flagons and Foxtrots; RENT and Something Rotten!. His other theatre credits include Once on Chunuk Bair (Imagine Charitable Trust); Mamma Mia; and Les Misérables (Showbiz Christchurch); Madagascar the Musical (GMG Productions). Ben’s stage management credits include Catch Me If You Can; Severely Queer (Blackboard Theatre Collective); Sweet Charity; Ragtime (NASDA); The Father; The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race and he served as assistant stage manager on Hudson & Halls Live! (The Court Theatre). His directing credits include The Isolation Mixtape (Blackboard Theatre Collective); Time Machine; Crash Bash; Disney’s Frozen JR. and was assistant director on Next to Normal (The Court Theatre). He is on the board of Equity New Zealand.

BEN FREETH

Colonel Arbuthnot

/Samuel Ratchett

JULIET REYN0LDS-MIDGLEY Helen Hubbard

CREATIVE

Dan has been a theatre director, playwright, improvisor, street performer, actor, motivational speaker, and comedian since graduating from clown school in 2001. He co-created cult improv sensations Perfuct Storm and Improv Seduction and is the creator of the bafflingly popular sleep-aid podcast Dan Bain’s Sleepy Time Mumbles. As a multi-award winning standup, his comedy reflects his unique perspective and cheerful vulgarity, all filtered through his desperate attempts to appear clever. Dan’s work as a writer for theatre includes Ivy Black: Axe Murder Girl, and The Light in the Sky, the silent children’s shows A Paintbox of Clowns, Why Are My Parents So Boring? and Cat Vs. Dog; the Young and Hungry commissions Gameplan and Uncle Minotaur; the comedy Stag Weekend (with Brendon Bennetts); high school musical The Invisibles (with Luke Di Somma), and his multiple versions of A Christmas Carol. He most recently adapted Homer’s The Odyssey for three comedy actors.

His book on live performance technique These Are NOT the Rules of Improvisation is available from the Playmarket bookshop and online at perfuct.co.nz. One of Aotearoa’s most experienced theatre directors, his credits include Titus Andronicus, Stephen King’s Misery, Ideation, and The Arsonists for The Court Theatre; Around the World in 80 Days, and The Odyssey for CCC Summer Theatre; and Cancel Santa for Little Andromeda. Dan was Associate Director of The Court Theatre from 2017 - 2020 and Artistic Director of The Court Jesters from 2014 - 2020. He is currently the Artistic and Programming Director of Little Andromeda Fringe Theatre.

Julian has designed numerous Court Theatre sets including Babylon Heights; Year of the Rat; Skin Tight; Baghdad, Baby!; Blackbird; Kiss of the Spiderwoman; The Tutor; Heartbreak House; Angels; The Perfumed Garden; Side by Side by Sondheim; Much Ado About Nothing; Pacific Post; The Women; Amadeus; End of the Rainbow; The Hound of the Baskervilles; Plum; Le Sud; Romeo and Juliet; Exit the King; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; Hedwig and the Angry Inch; The Wind in the Willows; A Streetcar Named Desire and Sense and Sensibility.

His other stage set designs include Cats; Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Showbiz Christchurch) and the national tour of Pinocchio (Royal New Zealand Ballet). Julian has also made props and sculpture for numerous festivals, operas, and outdoor and street theatre.

DAN BAIN Director

JULIAN S0UTHGATE Set Designer

RINGATOI

Giles is a graduate of Hagley Theatre Company (Diploma in Performing Arts), where he concentrated on technical production, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Canterbury. Currently Head Technician at The Court Theatre, Giles has worked on countless Court Theatre productions including Amadeus; When the Rain Stops Falling; Constellations; Educating Rita; Waiora: Te U Kai Po - The Homeland; The Events; Venus in Fur; Titus Andronicus; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; Stephen King’s Misery; Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Once; The Wind in the Willows; A Streetcar Named Desire; The Girl on the Train; Sense and Sensibility; and Dance Nation. Giles was one of 2023’s The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Out of the Limelight Awards, recognising dedicated theatre practitioners in Aotearoa.

Findlay completed his studies at Hagley School of Fashion and Otago Polytechnic Fashion School. Since 2021, he has been employed as a Costume Technician at The Court Theatre. Outside of The Court Theatre, Findlay manages his own clothing label, ‘Thirty nine,’ and collaboratively hosts the annual retail pop-up event ‘Big & Strong’.

Findlay’s Court Theatre credits include Frankenstein; Little Shop of Horrors; The Girl on the Train; Flagons and Foxtrots (Costume Technician) and Katzenmusik; Sweet Science of Bruising; and Te Kuia and The Spider (Costume Designer).

Jo graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School with a diploma in technical production in 1996 and has been working in theatre for over 25 years. She freelanced for many years in Wellington as a lighting designer/operator and stage manager as well as working overseas in London and Edinburgh and in film. She was an on-set production assistant for King Kong. Jo is the Head Stage Manager at The Court Theatre and has been involved in over 50 Court Productions going back to 1996 including Cabaret; Othello; Art; The Seagull; Amadeus; Pacific Post; The Motor Camp; End of the Rainbow; Blood Brothers; One Man, Two Guvnors; Niu Sila; The Ladykillers; Waiora; Steel Magnolias; Venus in Fur; Easy Money; Stephen King’s Misery; Elling; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Fresh Off the Boat; A Streetcar Named Desire; Ladies Night; Frankenstein; The Girl on the Train; Flagons and Foxtrots, Sense and Sensibility and Appropriate.

Jo graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Arts in 1994.

GILES TANNER Lighting Designer

FINDLAY CURRIE Costume Designer

J0 BUNCE Stage Manager

Louise studied Stage Management at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Her UK Theatre credits include There Came a Gypsy Riding (Almeida Theatre); The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre); The BFG (National Tour); Sh*t-M*x (Piccadilly Studios) and Resident Stage Manager at The Bush Theatre (Wrecks; 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover... at Christmas; I Caught Crabs in Walberswick; Stovepipe) Her Australian Theatre credits include Tales from the Vienna Woods; Waikiki Hip and The Vertical Hour (Sydney Theatre Company). Louise has also worked extensively in Television Production, including Planet Earth Live; Animal Planet; Live ‘n’ Deadly; Deadly 360; Food and Drink; The One Show; Sport Relief (BBC), Dickinson’s Real Deal (RDF Television), Pobol-y-Cwm (BBC Wales), Live Well; Better Homes and Gardens (Seven Network, Australia) and most recently as Production Manager for Flashworks Media (NZ).

Hailing from Southland, Taylor has worked at The Court Theatre for nearly three years. Whilst studying a Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management, from which he has newly graduated, he has played a variety of roles at The Court Theatre including Barista, Duty Manager and Assistant Food and Beverage Manager. Stepping behind the curtain into his Assistant Stage Manager debut, Taylor is excited to delve into the backstage and behind the scenes aspect of the theatre. His passion for theatre extends beyond Front of House and backstage, as seen by his Christchurch debut performance in Showbiz’s 2023 production of My Fair Lady where he took to the stage as Butler/Ensemble.

Originally from Manchester, Geoff has been in New Zealand since 1994. He is a qualified baker and at first worked in the hospitality industry as a chef and then restaurant manager from Queenstown through to Mount Maunganui. He then decided on a complete change in career and went to Circo-Arts for a year and then studied for two years with The Hagley Theatre Company. Geoff joined The Court Theatre on a casual basis in 2000 and has since worked as an actor, drama tutor, designer, technician and stage manager, becoming a full-time technician in 2005 and taking over the head technician position in 2008. In 2010, Geoff took up a scholarship to work and train as an early childhood educator. After the earthquake he set up his own small catering company which ran for 12 years in Christchurch. He has done lighting designs for NASDA, St Andrews College, Halswell School and The Light Site. Geoff is back on the full-time company list at The Court Theatre since the start of 2023. Geoff has also directed shows for Original Scripts Theatre School, The Hurunui Theatre Group and Christchurch Boys High School.

L0UISE T0PPING Assistant Stage Manager

TAYL0R BALLANTYNE Assistant Stage Manager

GE0FF NUNN Show 0perator

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COMING UP SOON

JULIAN SOUTHGATE

SET DESIGNER / HOAHOA PAE WHAKAARI

In approaching the set design of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express the style for me was, unusually, clear straight from the first script reading. Ken Ludwig’s play in script form is full of fun. He adds ‘Bangs!’, ‘Clangs!’, and ‘Whooshes!’ to his stage direction notes and has a breathless, and a sudden speed to the whole thing from the past, to the old Grand Hotel restaurant in sinister Constantinople, to the film-noiresque train station. It’s an express train and it has no time for stops! That was the inspiration for how the set could work: speeding action for scene changes where everything has to run on time and how things are hidden, then revealed.

Dan, the director, also established early on that he didn’t want modern special effects such as LED screens, but rather the 1930’s ethos of Agatha Christie’s original invention, a meticulously crafted trap that captures fantastically suspicious characters in an elegant setting.

We are here to build that world, and what you see is the script brought to life in its truest form.

To try and achieve the sombre opening and the filmic set-up of the hotel and station before the train mystery takes over, I used simple effects and set pieces to track screens and enhance their movement. Typically scenic movements should be as quiet and decorous as possible, but in this show they clatter, clang and whoosh, accentuated by the inclusion of train tail lamps. I also decide on all the fun things that come with a Christie play. Such as the types of lamps and upholstery and whether the Tokalitan Hotel in Istanbul looks like the 1900’s or the 1920’s? To what extent does the interior of the luxurious ‘Wagon-Lit’ carriages from 1934 reflect the ‘1930’s Style Moderne’? Once that was decided, we had to find and make it all happen on a rather small build time. As I write this, we are sewing up the curtains, damask tablecloths, and drapery, rigging many little crystal lamps and gathering all the necessary bits and pieces. Additionally, there’s the task of crafting all the veneer train carriage panelling, assembling cabinets and upholstering the velvet chairs. So much quality velvet!

The Court Theatre is fortunate and grateful for all the fabric donations over many years which have been used in this production.

CHRISTCHURCH 100.1FM

EVERY VIEW. FROM EVERY ANGLE.

FINDLAY CURRIE

COSTUME DESIGNER / HOAHOA KAHU WHAKAARI

For me, this show is all about showcasing each character in a uniquely opulent way. When Dan and I first discussed the show, he mentioned Cluedo, envisioning a 1930’s Cluedo for the upper class as our main inspiration.

I aimed to stay as true to the 1930’s style as possible, with a bit of room for fun and a touch of comedy. We didn’t aim for strict historical accuracy; it’s more about creating a visually stunning experience than a perfectly accurate historical reenactment.

About half of the garments in the show have been made in-house, as I wanted everything to look clean and well-fitted. In keeping with the style of the 1930’s, all the suits are crafted of wool while the dresses are made of silk. The rest of the garments have been sourced from our stock. All of these pieces have been altered and embellished for effect.

Putting this all together required a fantastic team. Pauline Laws has crafted both Hercule Poirot and Hector McQueen’s suits, Annie Graham has made Mrs. Hubbard and Mary Debenham’s looks, and Rachael Mountstevens has done an amazing job with the wigs. Last but not least, Daniella Salazar has been overseeing the whole operation. Their contributions have been invaluable to bringing this vision to life.

Findlay would like to thank The Repertory Theatre for their contribution to the costuming of The Court Theatre’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.

THE COURT COMPAN Y

Acting Chief Executive | Tumu

Whakarae

Steve Wakefield

ARTISTIC

Artistic Director

Dr Alison Walls

Associate Artistic Director

Tim Bain

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Education and Outreach Manager

Ben O’Brien-Limmer

Education Administrator

Madeleine Sheldon

FRONT OF HOUSE

Customer Experience Manager

Rachel Vavasour

Box O ce and / or Lead Hosts

Rachel Brebner

Helen Brocklehurst

Margot Coleman

Haydon Dickie

Annah Johnstone

Mandy Perry

Rebecca Radcli e

Rose Spoelstra

Isayah Snow

Karyn Willetts

Customer Experience Administrator

Erin Hills

Food and Beverage Manager

Petra Laskova

Duty Managers

Anthea Johnson

Jack Taylor

Food and Beverage

Rachel Brebner

Ben Cox

Anna Cropp

Shannon Douglas

Sienna Holland-Reiser

Erin Kavanagh

Eva Lynch

Lea McEwan

David Patullo

Danielle Reiser

Ben Robertson

Tara Smith

Isayah Snow

Jack Taylor

Helen Vessey

FINANCE

Finance Manager

Kevin Fee

Administration Assistant

Fiona Haines

Payroll and Accounts Administrator

Annah Johnstone

Special Projects Assistant

Claudia Fe Jambalos

HUMAN RESOURCES

Human Resources Manager

Viv Palmer

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Sales and Marketing Manager

Virna Smith

Graphic Design & Social Media Specialist

Georgia Bingham

Marketing Coordinator

Prue Gri ths

Tessitura (CRM) Manager

Anisha Thomas

FUNDRAISING

Client Manager

Andrea Winder

Partner Relationships Manager

Sophie Hicks

Grants Manager

Anna Colthart

PRODUCTION

Production Manager

Tim Bain

Head Stage Manager

Jo Bunce

Head Technician

Giles Tanner

Lighting and Sound Technician

Geo Nunn

Properties Manager

Julian Southgate

Costume Manager

Daniella Salazar

Costume Technician

Findlay Currie

Construction Manager

Matthew Du y

Set Construction

Seth Edwards-Ellis

Edward Roche

FELLOWS OF THE COURT

John Harrison ONZM

John McSweeney

Felicity Price ONZM

THE NEW COURT IN THE CITY

Artistic Adviser / Lead Director

Ross Gumbley

Transition Project Manager

Flore Charbonnier

Project Manager

Tom Clisby

TEACHING ARTISTS

Daniel Allan

Nikki Bleyendaal

Millie Hanford

Ben Jarrett

Cain Liang

Hannah McDougall

Ben O’Brien-Limmer

Krystal O’Gorman

Caitlin Penhey

Stacey Schembri

Jamie Spyker

Lizzie Tollemache

Grace Von Huben

COURT JESTERS

Jorja Baylee (Apprentice)

Harmony Beaven (Apprentice)

Brendon Bennetts

Rachel Brebner

Kathleen Burns

Nelly Campbell-Reeves (Apprentice)

Je Clark

Emma Cusdin

Kirsty Gillespie

Ryan Goodwin (Apprentice)

Criss Grueber

Millie Hanford

Maddie Harris

Riley Harter

Reylene Rose Hilaga (Apprentice)

Bryony Jamison (Apprentice)

Benjamin Kent

Scott Koorey

James Kupa

Hannah McDougall

Henri Nelis

Emma Newborn (Apprentice)

Dan Pengelly

Caitlin Penhey

Ciarán Searle

Jarred Skelton

Vito Strati (Apprentice)

Andrew Todd

Gabby Wakefield

Tilly Walbom

Jester Musicians

Deen Coulson

Kris Finnerty

Criss Grueber

Hamish Oliver

Dan Robertson

Jesters Producer

Lizzie Tollemache

TRUST BOARD

Chair

Steve Wakefield

Deputy Chair

Jenny May

Board

Andrea Bankier

Paul Bryden

Pete Glasson

Erin Jamieson

Tanya McCall

Anne Newman

Georgina Toomey

Steven van der Pol

FOUNDATION BOARD

Chair

Laura Palomino de Forbes

Treasurer

Christopher Weir

Board

Hall Cannon

Tina Duncan

Cilla Glasson

Carolyne Grant

FRIENDS

Patron

Ben Gough

Chair

Annie Bonifant

Deputy Chair

Cheryl Colley

Secretary

Charles Duke

Treasurer

Lynn Vandertie

Membership Secretary

Jay Pollock

Committee

Andrea Bankier

Pat Braithwaite

Raewyn Raynel

Jenny May

David Winfield (Theatre Chaplin)

ASSOCIATES

Bryan Aitken

Stuart Alderton

Paul Barrett

Judie Douglass

Tony Geddes

Joe Hayes

Geo rey Heath

Elric Hooper MBE

Avril Lockhead

Yvonne Martin

Lynda Milligan

Eilish Moran

Stewart Ross

Academy Funeral Services

Adgraphix

Chamalang Plasterers & Painters

CIPM Limited

Coca-Cola

Curts Vision Optometrists

Enlightened Fire Solutions

Elastomer Products Ltd

Foot Science International

Garden City Chemdry

Metalcraft Roofing

Phantom Billstickers

Raewyn Murray Photography

Team Architects

The Fitting Room

The George Christchurch

TotalPOS

Pamela Webb Charitable Trust

The Robert & Barbara Stewart Charitable Trust

Elizabeth Ball Charitable Trust

Farina Thompson Charitable Trust