{"id":776544,"date":"2026-02-20T06:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/776544\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T06:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:48:39","slug":"syndicated-interviews-with-the-stars-of-death-on-the-nile-at-sheffield-theatres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/776544\/","title":{"rendered":"Syndicated interviews with the stars of Death on the Nile at Sheffield Theatres"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the sell-out tour of\u00a0Murder on the Orient Express,\u00a0Death on the Nile<\/strong>\u00a0docks in Sheffield from\u00a0Tue 10 \u2013 Sat 14 March<\/strong>, starring is\u00a0Mark Hadfield\u00a0<\/strong>as Poirot alongside\u00a0Glynis Barber and<\/strong>\u00a0Bob Barrett\u00a0<\/strong>in a brand-new adaptation of the\u00a0Agatha Christie<\/strong>\u00a0classic.<\/p>\n

Playing legendary detective Hercule Poirot in the European premiere of a new stage version of Death on the Nile, Mark Hadfield has the approval of none other than Sir Kenneth Branagh. The two actors are friends. \u201cAnd he\u2019s been incredibly encouraging,\u201d Marks says about chats he\u2019s had with Branagh, who has played Poirot himself in three big-screen outings.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Encouragement also comes from Michael Maloney, another actor friend who took on the role of the Belgian sleuth in the recent touring production of Murder on the Orient Express \u2013 which, like the UK and Ireland tour of Death on the Nile, was adapted from the Agatha Christie novel by Ken Ludwig, directed by Lucy Bailey and produced by Fiery Angel.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThey both encouraged me to do this because they said, \u2018You will have so much enjoyment in bringing him to life\u2019,\u201d Hadfield says of Branagh and Maloney, \u201cand I think Death on the Nile is one of Christie\u2019s best stories, so that also drew me in. Poirot\u2019s journey within it is fascinating to play, because he goes from being on what he thinks is a relaxing holiday to having to solve a murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The murder in question happens in the 1930s when Hercule is holidaying on a luxury steamer on the Nile River in Egypt, where a couple\u2019s idyllic honeymoon is cut short by a brutal murder. As secrets that have been buried in the sands of time finally resurface, can the world-famous detective untangle the web of lies and solve the case?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Poirot has been played by many revered performers before \u2013 not just Branagh and Maloney, but also Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov and David Suchet. \u201cAnd he is such an iconic character that everyone has their own version of what they think he should be like,\u201d Mark muses. \u201cThe challenge is to try and incorporate people\u2019s expectations but also to bring in a few surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He smiles. \u201cI\u2019m not expecting people to say \u2018Oh my God, that was the most original Poirot I\u2019ve ever seen\u2019 by giving him a punk hairdo or what have you. But I hope to find that balance of pleasing people while leaving them going \u2018We haven\u2019t seen that before\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After solving a murder on the Orient Express, the super sleuth is heading into his later years. \u201cHe may even be thinking of retiring,\u201d Mark believes, \u201cand he talks about old age and life having passed him by. There\u2019s more of a hint of melancholy than people might be used to from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark\u2019s Poirot will, of course, have a moustache. \u201cIt\u2019s still a work in progress,\u201d he says as he fluffs up the one he\u2019s been growing during rehearsals. \u201cIt\u2019s getting there. I may need a bit of help to flesh it out to begin with, but halfway through the tour I should be going solo with the tache!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark has done lots of TV and film work, but the majority of his CV is taken up by theatre \u2013 from Shakespeare to Sondheim via Dr. Strangelove and The Lion King \u2013 and that\u2019s where his heart lies. \u201cI really enjoy doing films and TV,\u201d he says, \u201cbut when I go back to theatre I love the connection with an audience. I see them as the last members to join the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s hopeful that audiences for Death on the Nile will find it to be \u201cdelicious, like opening a two-tray box of chocolates where you enjoy the first layer so much that you have to have the second layer too.\u201d The story, he adds, is a mix of escapism with a timeless theme. \u201cIt\u2019s gloriously evocative of travel in that time, but it\u2019s also about how we should nurture love and try to be as kind as we can. That\u2019s something we could learn from with everything that\u2019s going on at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colonel Race, Poirot\u2019s partner in crime-solving, is played by Bob Barrett, who is no stranger to Agatha Christie stage adaptations. This is Bob\u2019s third Christie whodunnit, after And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI love her stories because they\u2019re edgy and they go to dark places,\u201d he says of why he keeps coming back for more, \u201cbut there\u2019s something cosy and comfortable about them. This is my favourite out of all of them, because it\u2019s about love. It has such heart, which makes it all the more tragic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Colonel is Poirot\u2019s friend and a Secret Service agent. \u201cAnd he\u2019s terribly posh,\u201d Barrett says. \u201cI played Monsieur Bouc in Murder on the Orient Express and he was Poirot\u2019s friend too, but he was sort of a buffoon whereas Race is very bright. I wouldn\u2019t say he\u2019s Hercule\u2019s intellectual equal, but they are much more on a level than he and Bouc were.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A veteran of the genre, the actor believes theatregoers are drawn to whodunnits because, \u201cYou get to work things out as the play goes along. You get the clues, as if you\u2019re playing a board game. Yes, you might be scared but you get to go home at the end, and in times like these I think people find comfort in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barrett came to fame as Dr. Sacha Levy on Holby City and it\u2019s the role he remains best-known for. And he\u2019s fine with that, beaming: \u201cI don\u2019t mind at all, because I adored that job. I\u2019m not on social media, so it\u2019s lovely when people come to the stage door and I get to say \u2018Thank you for watching\u2019. I knew it was popular, of course, but it\u2019s amazing how they still remember that character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy of Sheffield Theatres<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Death on the Nile is set in the 1930s but Bob feels it remains timely. \u201cAs I say, it\u2019s all about love, which makes it more intimate than the other Christies I\u2019ve done. Poirot gives a wonderful speech at the end about how love is more important than hate, and that sentiment never goes out of date. There is nothing more universal and more profound than love. That\u2019s why I think this play will pull at the heartstrings and really have an effect on people who come to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Careful not to give spoilers, he says fans of the book and the various screen adaptations are still in for some surprises, with new characters and others that have been gender-swapped. Then there\u2019s the two-tiered set. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the higher and lower levels, and you get to see what they\u2019re all up to, who\u2019s listening in and all of that intrigue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Passengers on the steamer include flamboyant romance novelist Salome Otterbourne, played here by Glynis Barber, who teases, \u201cIn the play, she\u2019s very different to how she is in the book and in the various films. And she\u2019s quite a character, which makes her fun to play. She is larger-than-life and she brings a lot of energy to the stage. She\u2019s the loudest, bubbliest and most theatrical character, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Another draw for Glynis was the team behind Death on the Nile. \u201cLucy is a fabulous director and Fiery Angel is an amazing company. Plus this one hasn\u2019t been done on stage before in the UK, so that makes it exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then there\u2019s the excitement among Christie fans. A version of the play was previously staged in Washington, but Ken Ludwig has completely rewritten it for its European premiere. \u201cAnd the response has been phenomenal,\u201d Barber marvels. \u201cI\u2019ve had so many messages from people I know and people I don\u2019t know going, \u2018I definitely want to see that\u2019. I\u2019ve even got one friend who is flying in from Spain to Edinburgh to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Glynis is best known for starring in 1980s cult drama Dempsey and Makepeace and has also appeared in the likes of Blake\u2019s 7, EastEnders and Hollyoaks. But she\u2019s hard-pressed to pick a favourite, saying: \u201cThat\u2019s always a difficult one, because you enjoy different things at different times and you get something different out of every part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is her first time doing theatre since The Best Man in 2018 in London\u2019s West End. \u201cAfter the pandemic, I wasn\u2019t sure if I wanted to return to it,\u201d she admits, \u201cbecause, after being isolated for all that time, I\u2019d gotten cold feet. But the fact that it\u2019s a scary prospect is a good reason to do it, and I thought, \u2018If I am going to go back to theatre, this is a really good play to do so with\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Barber understands the lure of an Agatha Christie story on stage. \u201cThe plots keep you guessing and they\u2019re a very good way to escape the world for a couple of hours. Who doesn\u2019t want a bit of that, especially these days?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And she agrees with her co-stars about the central theme of Death on the Nile. \u201cIt\u2019s about love, which is deeply pertinent for every age, and in this story it\u2019s a very profound theme.\u201d She smiles. \u201cUnless we all become AI bots, love is universal and that is something that will never change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Death on the Nile\u00a0plays at Lyceum Theatre\u00a0Tue 10 \u2013 Sat 14 March. Tickets are available here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n


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