Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express – Audition Info

The Portland Civic Players are excited to announce audition dates for their spring production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express! Auditions will be held: 

January 8, 2024 @ 7pm at the Portland Community Theater located at 231 Maple Street in Portland. Performance dates are March 15 & 23rd (7:30pm) and March 16, 17 & 24 (2:30pm).

Cast includes 5 men and 5 women.

SYNOPSIS:

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot to identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again.

Auditions will consist of cold readings and presenting one of the two monologues below (your choice).

Hercule Poirot: A retired Belgian police officer. Poirot is Christie’s most famous detective and is known for his short stature and long, curly moustache. Meticulous and exacting, Poirot is a keen observer of detail and an astute judge of character. Certain that the crime was committed by someone on the train, he confidently and patiently works his way to a solution.

Monsieur Bouc: Belgium. A young middle-aged man of good humor, Monsieur Bouc is an old friend of Poirot’s. He appears removed from the crime, often acting as Poirot’s sounding board, but no one on the train is above suspicion.

Mary Debenham: An English beauty in her late twenties, Mary bears a certain sadness in her eyes. When she first appears, she is very anxious. 

Princess Dragomiroff: The Russian princess, now in her seventies, enters her compartment “like a galleon in full sail.” Expensively dressed and handsomely bejeweled.

Hector McQueen: Ratchett’s personal secretary. A nervous young American in his thirties with a strained, rather beleaguered face.

Greta Ohlsson: Swedish. Plain and modest, Greta has a frightened, sheep-like quality about her. 

Countess Andrenyi: From Hungary. The Countess is quite young, dark haired and beautiful.

Helen Hubbard: An outspoken American in her fifties, well dressed with a touch of flamboyance, Mrs. Hubbard is a tough-talking broad with rough edge and a bold sense of humor. 

Colonel Arbuthnot: A Scotsman in his mid-thirties, Arbuthnot is handsome and very matter of fact.

Michael the Conductor: A good-looking Frenchman, about forty, Michel has a quiet, almost grave sense of humor. 

Samuel Ratchett (doubled with Colonel Arbuthnot): An American Businessman. Ratchett is brusque and unforgiving, with a threatening demeanor and a whiplash of a voice. 

Head Waiter (doubled with Michael the Conductor): Professional in demeanor, he is knowledgeable and a bit overconfident. 

Please pick one of the two monologues below.

Choice 1:“Monsieur Poirot! You stab me in the heart! I am writhing on the ground at your feet! It is not a mere train that will carry you tonight, it is a legend.  It runs like no other vehicle on the earth. The fittings are from Paris, the paneling Venice, the plates are from Rome, and the taps from New York. The best food, the best beds, the best pillows, the best feathers inside the pillows.  It is poetry on wheels, and Lord Byron himself could not write it better.  Monsieur, prepare yourself.  In one hour, I will meet you on the platform of the Orient Express.” 

Choice 2: “Good evening. The story you are about to witness is one of romance and tragedy, primal murder, and the urge for revenge.  What better way to spend a pleasant evening together?  From the beginning it was an odyssey of deception and trickery. One minute, I could see the light, like the beam of a train engine hurtling past. The next minute, all was darkness at the thread that I pulled came away in my fingers and led to nothing. I believe it was the greatest case of my career, but who am I to say? Modesty forbids it. It was certainly the most difficult I have ever encountered, and it made me question the very deepest values that I have held since I was a young man.”

Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.  www.concordtheatricals.com