PlayGuide - "Murder on the Orient Express"

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O SYN PSIS n of Murder on the Hartford Stage productio it: T. Charles Erickson. Orient Express. Photo Cred

The play opens with a scene of domestic tranquility, of a little girl getting ready for bed with her beloved nanny. Moments later, her bedroom door opens to a hulking shadow and the little girl screams. Lights rise on the famed sleuth, Hercule Poirot, who addresses the audience, telling them about the story they will soon witness and the mystery that will soon unfold. After Poirot’s introduction, the audience joins him at the dining room of the Tokatlian Hotel in Istanbul in 1934. On the opposite side of the dining room, a young English woman, Mary Debenham, and her Scottish beau, Colonel Arbuthnot, speak in hushed tones and notice that Poirot is watching their interaction. Also in the dining room are Mrs. Hubbard, a flamboyant American, and a nervous young man, Hector McQueen, also American.

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As Poirot observes these characters, he is greeted by a friend, Monsieur Bouc, who lives in Istanbul. Bouc runs the train line, and the famed Orient Express. Poirot had planned on vacationing in Istanbul, but has been called back to England for a case, and will be traveling on the train alongside Bouc, who is also headed back west. On the train platform, passengers and workers bustle about preparing for their journey on the glamorous Orient Express. Michel, the conductor, is double-checking passengers and preparations. Princess Dragomiroff and Greta, a missionary and a paid assistant for the Princess, arrive on the platform and chat with Michel. Samuel Ratchett, a boisterous American businessman, scolds McQueen, who is in his employ and the audience met earlier at the hotel. They discuss a series of threatening letters that Ratchett has received. After a mix-up with Poirot’s accommodations is resolved, the Countess Andrenyi arrives, sweeping onto the platform in a whirl of glamour and beauty. Mrs. Hubbard is the last to arrive, and makes quite the impression with her larger-than-life personality.

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