Murder on the Orient Express tour casting announced, with Michael Maloney as Hercule Poirot | West End Theatre (2025)

Casting has been announced for the forthcoming UK & Ireland tour of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.

Taking the lead as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is star of stage and screen Michael Maloney (Belfast, Iron Lady, Peer Gynt).

Michael Maloney is joined by Bob Barrett as Monsieur Bouc, Mila Carter as Countess Elena Andreyni, Rebecca Charles as Greta Ohlsonn, Debbie Chazen as Princess Dragomiroff, Simon Cotton as Samuel Ratchett, Jean-Baptiste Fillon as Michel, Christine Kavanagh as Helen Hubbard, Paul Keating as Hector MacQueen, Iniki Mariano as Mary Debenham, Rishi Rian as The Colonel and Alex Stedman as Head Waiter. Also in the cast are Jasmine Raymond and Beth Tuckey.

Directed by Lucy Bailey (Witness for the Prosecution, And Then There Were None), and adapted by Tony and Olivier Award winner Ken Ludwig (Crazy For You), Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery is opening at the Lowry Salford on 6 September 2024, and then tours to 3 May 2025.

The creative team also includes design by Mike Britton, lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, video design by Ian Galloway, sound design by Mic Pool, movement direction by Leah Hausman, casting by Abby Galvin, and assistant director Victoria Gartner.

Video: Watch an interview with Murder on the Orient Express star Michael Maloney and director Lucy Bailey

Actor Michael Maloney said in a statement: “I am very excited and honoured to be joining a long line of extraordinary actors who have taken on the role of Hercule Poirot and hope I can be so, too. To work with such a talented director as Lucy Bailey and with top producers Fiery Angel is a gift and a privilege. Here’s to Orient Express hurtling through your town or city soon!”

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Video: Murder on the Orient Express – Trailer

Who is in the cast of Murder on the Orient Express?

Read more about the cast of Murder on the Orient Express.

Michael Maloney’s extensive film and television work includes Belfast, Iron Lady, Young Victoria, Notes on a Scandal, Branagh’s Hamlet, Zefferelli’s Hamlet, Truly Madly Deep, Magpie Murder, The Trial of Christine Keeler, The Five, River, The White Queen, Bonekickers, Empire, The Jury and Love on a Branch Line. On the stage, his many roles for the RSC include Edgar, Romeo and Prince Hal. For the National, he has appeared in Light Shining in Buckinghamshire as Cromwell, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground as Lewis Carroll and Once in a While the Odd Thing Happens as Benjamin Britten. In the West End, he has appeared in Peer Gynt (in the title role), Can You Hear Me at the Back? and Taking Steps.

Bob Barrett is best known as Sacha Levy in the long-running Holby City, a role he played from 2010 to 2022. On film, he played George Bryan in John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love. On stage, he most recently appeared in the UK Tour of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, also directed by Lucy Bailey.

Mila Carter recently graduated from RADA. Her first professional appearance was in Curious Directive’s Black Sheep earlier this year.

Rebecca Charles appeared in the films Bridget Jones’s Diary, Shakespeare in Love and Mrs Brown. On stage, she most recently appeared in the UK Tour of Murder in the Dark. Other theatre work includes The Dresser for Theatre Royal Bath, Abigail’s Party for Hull Truck, An Ideal Husband in the West End, Lucy Bailey’s tour of The Graduate, The Father at Theatre Royal Bath and in the West End and Deborah Warner’s Julius Caesar at the Barbican and on a European Tour.

Debbie Chazen’s more recent TV and film appearances include Sister Boniface Mysteries, Dalgliesh, Sable in The Last Kingdom, Red Joan, Agatha Raisin and Sherlock. On stage, her recent work includes Jews in Their Own Words (Royal Court), Our Generation (National Theatre/Chichester Festival Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (The Globe) and as Ruth in the original cast of The Girls, the Gary Barlow/Tim Firth musical (Leeds Grand, The Lowry Salford and the Phoenix Theatre, London).

Simon Cotton’s television credits include Hanna, Outlander and Murder Maps. Films include The Unseen and Ronnie Kray in The Rise of the Krays and The Fall of the Krays. On stage, he played Brodsky in A Clockwork Orange at Park Theatre and Ray Court in The Bodyguard on tour.

Jean-Baptiste Fillon’s screen credits include Masters of the Air, Mister Mayfair, Mission Impossible – Fallout, Poldark, Survivor and Viktor.

Christine Kavanagh’s screen credits include A Room with a View, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking, In His Life: The John Lennon Story, Seaforth, All in the Game, The Blackheath Poisonings, Chimera and A Very British Coup. Her recent theatre credits include the tour of An Inspector Calls, Ivo van Hove’s Hedda Gabbler at the National Theatre, Man and Superman at the National Theatre, Gwendolyn in Lucy Bailey’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest, Nora in A Doll’s House at the Belfast Lyric Theatre and Trevor Nunn’s production of Albert Speer at the National Theatre.

Paul Keating first came to attention when he won the title role in the West End premiere of The Who’s Tommy while still working on a supermarket check-out. He went on to appear on the London stage in the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven, The Full Monty musical, Don Carlos directed by Michael Grandage, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Buttons in the Old Vic’s Cinderella and Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Television includes James in EastEnders and Dean in Metrosexuality.

Iniki Mariano’s recent stage work includes George at the Criterion Theatre, The Garden of Words at Park Theatre, Can’t Wait for Christmas! at the Orange Tree Theatre, the revival of Sally Cookson’s National Theatre/Bristol Old Vic production of Peter Pan and as Mowgli in The Jungle Book at Derby Theatre.

Rishi Rian will be appearing in the second series of ITV’s Ridley, due to air later this year. He also appeared in the film Damaged, starring Samuel L. Jackson, that was released this spring. Rishi trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

UPDATES: First published 16 July 2024 with news of Michael Maloney as Poirot; Updated 31 July 2024 with full casting information

📷Main photo: Murder on the Orient Express starring Michael Maloney. Photo by Jay Brooks