Black Coffee

"Black Coffee”, written by Agatha Christie in the 1930s, is set in the home of physicist Sir Claud Amory who discovers that someone has stolen his formula for explosives.  Hercule Poirot is summoned to identify the thief among the seven possible suspects, each with a motive of their own. Before Poirot and Hastings arrive, Sir Claud is poisoned by his coffee. Only Poirot, of course, can unravel the mystery, full of twists and turns in typical Christie fashion.

Congratulations to Julie Webb for the first-class direction, maintaining intrigue and suspense as to who had stolen the formula, murdered Sir Claud, and why. Each actor perfectly understood their role and place in the plot.

While waiting for Poirot to arrive, Amory gathers his household: sister Caroline, niece Barbara, son Richard and his Italian wife Lucia, secretary Edward Raynor, and Lucia’s old friend, Dr. Carelli. Sir Claud then locks all the doors, serves coffee and asks whoever stole the envelope containing the formula to place it on the coffee table without consequence. When the lights are turned back on, the envelope is there but Sir Claud is dead in his chair. The scene where Sir Claud is poisoned by moving the coffee cups around was very clever. However, who murdered Sir Claud and why? They all accuse each other and as the play moves on their secrets and motives for obtaining the formula are slowly revealed with Poirot’s encouragement. 

All the actors delivered fine performances that matched their characters in terms of characterisations, accents, and diction. Portraying such a well-known TV character as Hercule Poirot can be challenging but Jason Vardy was stupendous and his mannerisms, accent, and body language were spot-on. Brilliant work from Jason, the outfit was authentic, and he even had his own moustache. Where would Poirot be without Captain Hastings and the Inspector Japp  Lee Sanderson’s and Jon Wilson’s interpretations respectively were first-class.

Frank Bardsley gave a solid performance as Sir Claud Amory and Elliot Cable perfectly portrayed his son, Richard Amory. Playing his wife, Lucia, Clare Haynes gave a very good performance with an excellent Italian accent. For Caroline Amory, another great performance from Jill Connell and as the seductive niece, Barbara Amory, Emily Sanderson was at ease with her character and treated us to lovely facial expressions. Dr Carelli – a man not to be trusted – was well played by Neil Mather with an excellent accent. Sir Claud Amory needed a secretary and Edward Raynor, another character with hidden motives not revealed until the end, was played perfectly by Greg Muscroft. 

In every upper-class household there must be a butler, and this duty fell to Treadwell.  Mark Hague-Flint was perfect in this role, from walking with his hands behind his back to his subservient attitude to the family. The only person who appeared not to have anything to hide was the charming Dr Graham, performed with flair by Lucas Gunson.   Always included in Christie’s plots is a police constable and here we have Johnson, a man of few words, an important character in the plot played by Mark Kilburn-Stones. 

The Phoenix Players delivered a first-class production with excellent direction, acting, set, lighting, and sound, all testament to their skill and dedication. 

Thank you for your invitation and hospitality. It was a lovely evening at the theatre as the loud applause at the end confirmed. .

Sue Cox

NODA N.E. Drama Rep

Region 14

 

 

                                                                                                                       

 

                                                                                                                       

 

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