‘Murder on the Orient Express’ opens Friday in Quincy

QUINCY — The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Quincy High School on the tale of a mysterious murder with an international cast of suspects. The QHS Theater group presents “Murder on the Orient Express” for two consecutive weekends.

The play is based on Agatha Christie’s classic 1934 novel about a death on the most glamorous train in Europe.

Ally Manly, who plays a woman with some secrets to hide, summed it up.

“You see 11, 12 people from all over the world gathering on the train. And then one of those people dies,” Manly said. “Then it’s up to the detective who just happens to be on the train to find out who it is.” 

Hercule Poirot (JazzLynn Padron in the QHS production) is a passenger on the Orient Express as it pulls out of Istanbul. So is the mysterious Samuel Ratchett (Alijsha Quintanilla), who tried to hire Poirot to find the source of threats against him. Now the train is stuck in a snowdrift and Ratchett is dead of multiple stab wounds. The killer must be on the train — but who is it? 

    The mysterious Samuel Ratchett (Alijsha Quintanilla) lies dead in his compartment on the Orient Express.  

Countess Adrenyi, the physician (Manly)? The dead man’s secretary Hector MacQueen (Skylour Haile)? The Russian princess (Vinn Martinez)? And what about the clues scattered around Ratchett’s room, and what is the connection to the sensational kidnap and murder of a little girl a few years back?

Drama advisor and director Haliey Weber said this is her first mystery, and it came about almost by accident.

“The musical was easier to pick but the fall play was tough,” she said. “But my husband is a really big fan of Agatha Christie, and he was reading some of her books. One of the books on his nightstand was ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ and I (thought), ‘Hmmm, maybe a mystery.’” 

Weber said that under her direction the QHS Drama club has done plays about princesses, a tale from the land of Narnia and a high school musical, but never a mystery.

“It felt like a nice change, especially because we’re educational theater and I want to give the students interactions with different genres and different styles of theater, and doing a murder mystery is a very different style,” she said.

Sophomore Jazzlynn Padron will dress up as a man to play Poirot — which is something she’s pretty familiar with, after playing a guy in her first play.

“I’ve never actually played a female character,” she said.

She originally tried out for the role of MacQueen, she said, and was surprised but happy to get the lead. 

“I’m really grateful to have gotten this role. It’s been teaching me a lot about how to act, because it’s like nothing I’ve ever done before,” Padron said. 

It’s been a challenge to get inside Poirot’s head.

“You definitely have to get yourself in a certain mindset, because he’s a very complex character,” she said. “Not only his mannerisms but the way he thinks. He’s a world-renowned detective, the way his mind works is really hard to comprehend. But with acting you need to know what your character is thinking, which takes a lot of study with this character.”

Manly said she liked the idea of playing the Countess, who is a physician at a time when female doctors are rare.
“I just really liked how strong of a character she was,” Manly said. 

In a lot of plays the female roles are more supporting characters, she said, but not this one.

    The tech crew starts laying out the stage for the Quincy High School production of “Murder on the Orient Express” in September.
  

“They have their own story. I really liked how every character has a story and it all connects to the plot,” Manly said.

The action takes place on the train, mostly in the dining car but with some scenes in Rachett’s room. That required two elaborate sets, and Dulce Ferreyra said keeping things running smoothly requires a lot of attention to detail.

“Listening to the stage manager, I hear her cues and stuff, which let me know when I’m about to do something, or supposed to do something,” she said.

“Murder on the Orient Express” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Nov. 3 and 4, with a matinee at 3 p.m. Saturday and Nov. 4. Tickets are available at the QHS office before and after school and during lunch periods. They’re also available online under the “Buy Tickets” tab on the Quincy School District website, www.qsd.wednet.edu.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.