Arena’s ‘Death on the Nile’ is a Pleasure Cruise

metroweekly.com:

Death on the Nile at Arena Stage, locally-based legend Ken Ludwig pinpoints the tempestuous heart of one of the writer’s most popular mysteries, originally published in 1937.

Excising some characters from the book, and inventing or reinventing others, Ludwig nails the frenzied love triangle that propels the story, set aboard the steamship Karnak cruising the Nile.Hana Sharif — directing her first Arena production since boarding as company artistic director in 2023 — populates the Karnak’s passenger list with an effective cast, starting with Armando Durán as famed Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.Poirot doesn’t do much actual detecting in this iteration, as opposed to being just shrewdly observant, as usual, but Durán aptly conveys his authority as a solver of crimes.

And, especially opposite Jamil A.C. Mangan’s appealing turn as Poirot’s old chum Colonel Race, Durán captures the detective’s worldly bonhomie.A bloody homicide might interrupt Poirot’s vacation, but he’s still modestly thrilled to lead the hunt for the killer.

There’s a literal boatload of suspects to ponder and interrogate, and, ultimately, multiple crimes to solve.Ludwig’s adaptation, while sticking mainly to Christie’s plot, offers some surprises in the placement of certain key events.