(Katy Tang as Ursula Bourne, Nicole Shalhoub as Helen Russell, Tom Hewitt as Parker, John Rapson as Dr. James Sheppard, Allen Gilmore as Inspector Raglan, and Anthony Cochrane as Hercule Poirot. Production photo by T. Charles Erickson)

by Tim Leininger

WESTPORT — Westport Country Playhouse’s Artistic Director Mark Shanahan loves his murder mysteries. It seems almost every season at the playhouse since he took over there has been one. In 2024 there was Dial M for Murder and last year, The 39 Steps. Then there is the annual Christmas show A Sherlock Carol. So, naturally this year there would be another, knocking it out of the park with maybe their best one yet with their superb staging of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, adapted and directed by Shanahan and running through Aug. 1 at the playhouse at 25 Powers Court.

            Shanahan first presented his adaptation of Roger Ackroyd in 2023 as a reading in June 2023 before premiering fully staged at the Alley Theatre in Houston about month later. The third of Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels — the fourth volume counting the short story collection Poirot Investigates — the story takes place late in Poirot’s life, retired to King’s Abbot, a little town in England. Interestingly, the story is presented in third person, but from the perspective of one of the townspeople, Dr. James Sheppard (John Rapson), a rather beleaguered physician who had the opportunity for adventure in his life but squandered the money he had received, so makes do where he is. That is until he discovers that one of his patients, the eponymous Roger Ackroyd (Mark Silence), a wealthy widower, had been murdered in the Ackroyd estate of Fernly Park. All indications point to Ralph Paton (Joe Delaheld), Roger’s stepson, who happens to be secretly engaged to Roger’s niece Flora Ackroyd (Shereen Ahmed), and has disappeared.

(Allen Gilmore as Inspector Raglan and Shereen Ahmed as Flora Ackroyd)

            Luckly, Sheppard’s new neighbor happens to be Poirot (Anthony Cochrane), who is happily retired and gardening vegetables. Initially reticent to return to investigating crime, he takes on the case with Sheppard playing Watson to Poirot’s Sherlock, documenting the entire course of events to the audience. Christie is not content to leave The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as an homage to her predecessor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as there are a few more twists and turns here, with love affairs between four of the characters, an inept (but hilariously performed) Inspector Raglan (Allen Gilmore), and one of the more emotionally brutal conclusions in a murder mystery.

            Shanahan has meticulously adapted the Christie story, and his love for the text and the characters is apparent through every beat of the play. The pacing of the play is perfect. None of Shappard’s narrative dialogues ever drag or feel droll and dry with exposition. The staging keeps the action moving with precision without ever feeling rushed.

(Anthony Cochrane as Hercule Poirot and John Rapson as Dr. James Sheppard)

The colorful characters from the curmudgeonly butler Parker (Tom Hewitt) to the romantic idealist Flora Ackroyd (Shereen Ahmed), they all have motivation to murder Roger, be it for love, power, or money, and the cast are all on point. Karen Ziemba plays Gertrude Ackroyd, Roger’s widowed sister-in-law, who finds it absolutely appalling that she would have to entertain an inspector for a murder investigation. Ziemba plays her with hilarious propriety and sanctimony. The standout performance is Erin Noel Grennan, who plays Caroline Sheppard, James’ sister, a local gossip who is thrilled to be taking part in a murder mystery in her own town. Noel Grennan plays the role with a spontaneous spirit that lifts the character with an irrepressible affability that borders on annoyance.

Cochrane plays Poirot with a world-weariness that initially resists his instinctual nature to must solve the crime, and then evolves into a resolute quality that is displays the internal conflict of a man who has seen way too much death in his life, but an insatiable addiction to solve the puzzle before him. Rapson gets the most stage time as the narrator Dr. James Sheppard, and he is delightful with a gleeful buoyancy that keeps the play moving with wide-eyed wonderment. The one critique I have of the whole play, though, is Rapson’s British accent, which can get a little mushy in the mouth sometimes.

(The Company of “Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”)

Aside from that little detail, this is an excellent production. Charlie Corcoran’s scenic design is fantastic. I especially love the image of the sheep through the window upstage that Julie Duro lights perfectly to depict times of day. I love Jeni Schaefer’s costume and wig design — the dresses on the ladies are fabulous; and John Gromada’s original music for the show is appropriately atmospheric.

Mark Shanahan’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the best plays in Connecticut this year and everyone should make their way to Westport Country Playhouse to see it as soon as possible.

TICKETS: https://www.westportplayhouse.org/

PRODUCTION

Adapted and Directed by Mark Shanahan; Based on the novel by Agatha Christie; Scenic Design: Charlie Corcoran; Costume & Wig Design: Jeni Schaefer; Lighting Design: Julie Duro; Sound Design & Original Music: John Gromada; Fight Choreography: Seth Andrew Bridges; Assistant Director: Bruce Warren; Props Supervisor: Chloe Cobb; Production Stage Manager: Kevin Jinghong Zhu; Assistant Stage Manager: Matthew Rohan; Production Assistant: Sarah Rachel Katz

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Shereen Ahmed as Flora Ackroyd

Anthony Cochrane as Hercule Poirot

Joe Delaheld as Ralph Paton

Allen Gilmore as Inspector Raglan

Erin Noel Grennan as Caroline Sheppard

Richard R. Henry as Major Hector Blunt

Tom Hewitt as Parker

John Rapson as Dr. James Sheppard

Nicole Shalhoub as Helen Russell

Mark Silence as Roger Ackroyd

Katy Tang as Ursula Bourne

Karen Ziemba as Gertrude Ackroyd