Peril in the Alps

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – Peril in the Alps

Playwright– Steven Dietz using investigator Poirot created by Agatha Christie.

Production Company/Theatre space – Vertigo Theatre (professional) / The Playhouse

Length – 2 Acts; 2 hours 30 minutes (one intermission)

Genre/s – Spoof

Premise – In this show within a show, actors act out the story of Hercule Poirot with sidekick Hastings, who deal with disappearance, kidnapping, murder, and various other crimes.

Why this play? Why now? – This play trades on name recognition of Agatha Christie.

Curiosities – Small thing--shouldn’t the program read, “Agatha Christie by Vertigo Theatre” rather than “Agatha Christie for Vertigo Theatre”? The “for” makes it sound like she was an employee. Why hire a dialect coach for a show where accents aren’t supposed to be real to begin with? Why was famously fastidious Poirot uncharacteristically wrinkled?

Notable Moment – The skiing mime was fun.

Notable writing – As with Murder on the Links, Dietz trades on the cachet of Agatha Christie to write his farce. As with the last effort, this play within a play takes away any drama or intrigue. The real mystery here is how James Prichard great grandson, who now manages the  Christie Estate, thinks work like this honours his great grandmother. It must hard to maintain integrity with the allure of money making i.e., sanctioning this play. This work makes a mockery of Christie’s literary genius with a baffling array of back stories and various crimes in a convoluted plot written in a silly way. Deitz takes a risk with the title; some critic might sum up a less successful production in four words, “Peril in the Theatre”.

Notable performances – Graham Percy pulls off a parody of Poirot. Hastings, and sometimes narrator, Austin Halarewich is his worthy sidekick. Tyrell Crews, Linda Kee, Aidan Laudersmith and Heidi Damayo play Man One, Woman One, Man Two, and Woman Two respectively with the dexterity required for split second changes and schtick. Crews does this the best with his, “I can make reading the telephone book funny” talent.

Notable design/Production – Costume & Set Designer Hanne Loosen provides a clean muti-leveled acting space with stylized mountain walls that provide various points of entry to the stage (although this sometimes looks like characters are exiting through walls). It takes a very knowledgeable designer to handle the costume dictates of these many quick changes. Peter Moller is one of the best sound designers in town and Anton Degroot’s lights are equally good.

Notable direction – Clare Preuss adroitly handles the theatre school machinations that are required of the script. She does try to drop us into a real moment between Poirot and Hastings at the end of the play, but it is out of step with the artificial tone established for the piece.

One reason to see this show – If you enjoyed the type of murder mysteries performed at various corporate and social parties in the 80s and 90s, this show is for you.