Murder on the Orient Express: Agatha Christie’s legendary murder mystery careens on to the stage in Auckland

One body, eight stab wounds and a detective with the world’s most famous moustache. Joanna Wane meets the women suspected of murder in an Auckland production of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit. A pipe.

A doctor’s bag. A woman’s purse. A pocket watch.



A pile of handwritten letters. A silver cigarette case. A bottle of Champagne.

Laid out on a side table in Auckland Theatre Company’s rehearsal room, the items are tagged as “props”. They are, in fact, clues to one of the world’s most notorious murder mysteries. Weeks before opening night, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express had already become the company’s fastest-selling production on record – outdoing the 2016 smash hit Billy Elliot .

Fitting neatly into the “cosy murder” genre, the original 1930s novel is a classic whodunnit, with more twists than a sommelier’s corkscrew..