REVIEW: Death on the Nile (Arena Stage)

I don’t know why I don’t read more murder mysteries. I’m such a huge of the kitsch and outrageous stereotypes, and solving each case is like a puzzle. It’s like a snack for the brain, typically with a satisfying “gotcha”. It’s shows like Arena’s “death on the Nile” that remind me of these things the most — luscious genre bombs that lean hard into the vibes as a labor of love, with a payoff that feels excitedly nostalgic. In Artistic Director Hana Sharif’s DC directorial debut, we get just that — even if stop-and-go pacing from adaptor Ken Ludwig is a little distracting.

Book

Agatha Christie novels are known for her sprawling casts and trickling plot movement. Big-name playwright Ken Ludwig has taken the reins for this production in an effort to adapt that to a smaller stage format, as he has previously with Murder on the Orient Express. While the many of the welcomed Christieisms remain (Detective Poirot, bumbly archetypes, and exotic locales), the truncation has created pacing that is inconsistent to a traditional murder mystery. The first act takes it time to establish character motivations and other minutiae, potentially at the expense of whole other characters that were cut from the material. The titular death doesn’t even happen until a third of the way through the second act, meaning the to-the-point investigation feels like less of a ticking time-bomb and more of an “Oh, duh”. Although, the characters he did include remain delightfully gaudy, providing melodramatic mischief via interesting, novelesque dialog that distinctifies some characters who could easily morph into a narrative blob. 6/10

Acting

Arena has put together a golden ensemble comprising of a healthy mix of locals and out-of-towners. Felicia Curry (Annabelle Pennington), Katie Kleiger (Jacqueline de Bellefort), Nancy Robinette (Salome Otterbourne), and Ryan Michael Neely (Rameses Praed) all shine for the home team with thespian enthusiasm; Armando Duran (Poirot), Olivia Cygan (Linnet Ridgeway), and Jamil A.C. Mangan (Colonel Race) all stand out to me from the visitors. 8/10

Production

Apart from its empty opening, Nile contains some of the best production values I’ve seen at Arena — hell, any DC theatre — all year, rife with exquisite details that excite. It seems like there’s a new visual feast with each set change, perfectly engrossing the audience in a pulpy mystique. Layer by layer, the set by Alexander Dodge reveals new props to establish the varied environs of the journey: from a grand museum hall, to a desert excursion, and capping it with a divinely detailed rendition of the Nile cruise (which thanks to a revolve, gifts the audience both an interior and exterior staging). Not to be outdone, Karen Perry’s magnificent costumes continue to dazzle, as the sharp suits contrast well with the increasingly brilliant Anglo-Egyptian twists of the women’s gala dresses, which excellently embody a cultural apathy from the wealthy class aboard. But something that I haven’t seen much talk about are the unbelievably well-done projections by Brittany Bland. Even from the beginning, the audiences is treated with vintage travel map projections that follow the characters’ physical journey. Later on, there are 3D-rendered projections match the correct perspective of the boat’s trajectory, adding a lucid depth to the action that impresses. I was curious how Sharif would approach the production visually, and she has developed a comprehensive flair that both elevates and deepens the piece. 10/10
Viz
Utterly baffling choice, to me, to not at least breadcrumb some of the pizazz as the audience enters. We have a bare (seemingly underwater) stage to start. One could wonder if they entered the wrong theater? But the program art does not disappoint: there’s graphically colorful art to promote it, coupled with cinematic poster-like portraits of the characters within the program. 7/10

Verdict

Hana Sharif’s directorial debut in DC is a well-produced rendition of a classic adventure, in which its technical achievements outweigh its perforated book. 31/40