News release
West Ranch Theatre presents the classic mystery “Murder on the Orient Express,” opening Thursday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium.
Written in 1934 by Agatha Christie, the production takes place on a long train ride from Istanbul to Western Europe. A varied collection of travelers, including famed sleuth Hercule Poirot, finds the journey interrupted by murder.
“In this show, you’ve got a lot of intrigue and you’ve got a lot of characters,” West Ranch Theatre director Jarod Spradling said in a news release. “The thing about whodunits is, they’re fun for both the audience and the performers. And with this one, there’s a lot of playing with accents, and a lot of opportunity for melodrama.”
Poirot is played by senior Ella Boyd, who said she’s teaching herself Poirot’s Belgian/French accent by listening to the Harry Potter books read aloud in French. And Ella Kliewer, who plays Greta Ohlsson, is learning a Swedish accent, while other young actors are learning Scottish and Russian accents.
“It’s really fun to see everybody tap into that … and then to play those different characters that they probably wouldn’t have thought to play, ever,” Kliewer said in the release. “I didn’t think I’d ever be Swedish, and here I am.“
Boyd has the added challenge of working the deeper, more masculine tone of an older male detective into her developing accent, she said.
Boyd said that the production, staged by the high school’s intermediate Theatre II class, has given many younger actors the first-time experience of playing a leading role. And, it’s given West Ranch theater veterans like herself the chance to expand on skills they might not have used before.
Boyd, for instance, is using the acting technique taught by the legendary Sanford Meisner for her Poirot characterization, which emphasizes actors aiming to behave honestly under imaginary situations.
And, the setting – numerous train cars on the stage – is a lot of fun, she said.
Tickets are available at the door for $12 general admission, $10 seniors/veterans; and online (with a $2 discount) at www.westranchtheatre.com. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Jan. 29, 30 and 31, with a 2 p.m. performance on Saturday, Jan. 31, at the West Ranch High Auditorium, 26255 Valencia Blvd.
