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Two years ago this month, playwright and director Steven Dietz turned Agatha Christie’s 1923 mystery novel “Murder on the Links” into a witty comic romp at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. It was a hit, and the play went on to multiple well-reviewed productions at theaters around the country.
Now Dietz is back at North Coast Rep with the premiere of “Peril in the Alps,” a sequel based on Christie’s short stories and staged in the same madcap way with some of the same actors on a near-identical set.
Has lightning struck twice? Yes … and a little bit no. Like its predecessor, “Peril in the Alps” is also a fizzy and lighthearted comic caper with clever staging, fine costumes and a terrific cast. But the novelty of its concept has worn off a little, and once again I had a hard time keeping track of the many characters names, backgrounds and situations in the script.
“Peril in the Alps” was partially inspired by “The Mystery of the Hunter’s Lodge,” from Christie’s 1925 short-story collection “Poirot Investigates.” As in “Murder on the Links,” the new play features the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who is once again impishly and eccentrically played at North Coast Rep by the always funny Omri Schein.
Valerie Larsen stars as Poirot’s gentle-hearted, no-nonsense assistant, Capt. Hastings. And the play’s other four actors — Brian Mackey (who also starred in “Links”), Amanda Sitton, Gabbie Adner and Christopher M. Williams play 27 other characters with multiple wigs, beards, foreign accents and costumes. Mackey and Sitton are particular standouts with their character interpretations.
Set in 1925, the story involves identical twins Dulcinea (who is Hastings’ wife) and Bella, a married acrobat who has disappeared while hat-shopping in London’s Mayfair district. Then, Poirot’s new client, a wealthy doctor’s wife, reports her husband has also gone missing from the same hat shop.
There are bricks tossed through windows, a missing pistol, cups of cocoa (or “cacao” as Schein pronounces it) a drowning, a kidnapping and a ransom demand. There are so many plot threads, in fact, that the actors help the audience by going over the story chess game-style using tiny themed hats on miniature hat stands (in “Links” they did the same thing with lawn bowling pins). I never did understand everything, but still enjoyed the play’s characters, direction and pacing.
Scenic designer Marty Burnett has once again created two large cabinet walls with pop-open panels for actors and stagehands to pass props through, but this time the walls revolve. Elisa Benzoni’s costumes are wonderful, particularly a beige-and-black period dress worn by Adner in Act Two. Matthew Novotny designed lighting and Rob Witmer designed sound and original music. The play runs about 85 minutes, with intermission.
“Peril on the Alps” is entertaining, funny and well-staged, and ticket sales are so robust the show has already been extended a week. But the story could be streamlined and clarified by cutting out some of the extraneous characters not crucial to the plot.
‘Peril in the Alps’
When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through May 18
Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach
Tickets: $57-$69
Phone: 858-481-1055
Online:
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