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Murder on the Orient Express
Discover Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express for the stage
2027 Australia Tour Announced
Following acclaimed Australian tours of The Mousetrap and And Then There Were None, leading theatre producer John Frost will bring another Agatha Christie classic to the stage in 2027.
Presented in association with Fiery Angel and Agatha Christie Limited, Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express will open at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre in June 2027, following a successful tour of the UK and, Ireland and Mainland China.
Join the waitlist now for priority ticket access at murderontheorientexpress.com.au. General public tickets go on sale 12 November.
About the Show
Winter 1934 and an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. A murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?
A play adapted from Agatha Christie's classic mystery Murder on the Orient Express by Tony-nominated playwright Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Crazy for You).
First published in 1934, Murder on the Orient Express is widely regarded as one of Agatha Christie’s greatest literary achievements. Ludwig’s stage adaptation offers fans of the mystery classic the same suspenseful, thrilling ride.
The play had its world premiere at the multi-award-winning McCarter Theatre, Princeton in 2017, directed by Emily Mann (Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years and A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway). Ken Ludwig has said of adapting the production, that the goal was to give the audience two hours with "glamorous, interesting people." In the UK, the show was most recently staged in 2022, at Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath, with Henry Goodman taking on the role of Hercule Poirot.
A love letter to the original material, with a swift moving script adaptation by Ken Ludwig. ... [E]verything you could want - broadly drawn characters, exotic settings, and a spectacular murder with no shortage of suspects.
I believe it was the greatest case of my career, but who am I to say? Modesty forbids it.
About the Creative Team
About Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig may well be the most performed playwright of his generation. He has had six productions on Broadway and eight in London’s West End. His 34 plays and musicals are staged around the world and throughout the United States every night of the year. They have been produced in over 20 languages in more than 30 countries, and many have become standards of the American repertoire.
His first play, Lend Me a Tenor, won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. Crazy For You was on Broadway for five years, on the West End for three, and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. His adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is being performed around the world and his musical Crazy For You is currently touring Japan.
In addition, he has won the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theatre, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, the Charles MacArthur Award, and the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for writing the Kennedy Center Honors. His other plays include Moon Over Buffalo; Leading Ladies; Baskerville; Sherwood; Twentieth Century; Dear Jack, Dear Louise; A Fox on the Fairway; A Comedy of Tenors; The Game’s Afoot Shakespeare in Hollywood; and Moriarty. They have starred, among others, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Tony Shaloub, Joan Collins, and Kristin Bell.
His book How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare, published by Penguin Random House, has been a bestseller and is coming out this year in a new, expanded edition. It won the Falstaff Award for Best Shakespeare Book of the Year. His essays on theatre are published in the Yale Review, and he gives the Annual Ken Ludwig Playwriting Scholarship at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
His first opera, Tenor Overboard, opened at the Glimmerglass Festival in July 2022. His most recent world premieres were Lend Me A Soprano and Moriarty, and his newest plays and musicals include Pride and Prejudice Part 2: Napoleon at Pemberley, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, Beginner’s Luck and Easter Parade.
He has been commissioned to write plays by the Agatha Christie Estate, the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe Theatre, and the Bristol Old Vic.
For more information visit www.KenLudwig.com
It is not a mere train that will carry you tonight, it is a legend. It runs like no other vehicle on the earth.
Watch the Trailer
Agatha Christie: Playwright
Investigating Agatha Christie's Stage Success
Playwright Chris Thompson examines how structure and character make Christie's plays stand out
Murder on the Orient Express: A Q&A with Playwright Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig, award-winning playwright, reflects on his adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express.
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Previous Productions
UK and Ireland Tour 2024-25
The UK & Ireland Tour of Murder on the Orient Express opened in September 2024 at the Lowry in Salford, before visiting Norwich, Plymouth, Canterbury, Glasgow, Leicester, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Richmond, Malvern, Cornwall, Newcastle, Guildford, Birmingham, Sheffield, Aberdeen, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Bath, York, Nottingham, Dublin, Brighton and Cheltenham.
Murder on the Orient Express was directed by Lucy Bailey and designed by Mike Britton, with lighting design by Oliver Fenwick. Michael Maloney played Hercule Poirot.
Visit the official website
First class. Beautifully done.
A remarkably stylish and humorous take on the Agatha Christie tale. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
UK Staging, 2022
Murder on the Orient Express played in two English theatres in the summer of 2022. The show was staged at Chichester Festival Theatre (May - June), before moving on to Theatre Royal Bath (June).
Double Olivier Award-winner Henry Goodman (Yes, Prime Minister, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) played the part of Hercule Poirot. Former CFT Artistic Director Jonathan Church directed the show (Amadeus, Singin’ in the Rain, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) and Robert Jones (Oklahoma!, Mack & Mabel) was the designer.
