Boredom on the Nile

After doing some early birthday shopping at the Galleria, Gary and I headed to the Garland Civic Theater to meet up with the young married’s group from ALC. The GCT was performing Murder on the Nile, a play based on the famous Agatha Christie detective novel.

When I was younger, I was an avid Agatha Christie reader. I loved her murder mysteries. In fact, one of her stories (Ten Little Indians) provided inspiration for And Then There Was One. Agatha Christie could weave a thrilling mystery with many unexpected twists and turns. It was rare if you figured out the mystery before it was revealed.

Since I’m such a big fan of her work, I was looking forward to the play. We entered the theater ready to be transported to Egypt. The stage looked great. The mood was set. We were excited.

Unfortunately, GCT’s adaptation fell flat. They replaced the famous detective, Hercule Poirot, with a priest. That was disappointing, but it could have been forgiven if the rest of the play was good. It wasn’t. The characters were one dimensional. Each actor seemed to be trying to outdo the other with his/her dramatic interpretation of the character. Don’t get me wrong. I love drama, but when each character delivers their lines in the same overdramatic fashion throughout the entire play, it becomes loathsome.

Some of the actors had problems with their accents. We overheard a couple of people talking during intermission. One of them said, “I can’t understand anything they’re saying. Maybe we’re not supposed to?”

Hmm…not good.

I think their biggest mistake was not knowing when to edit. The play clocked in at 2 hours and 45 minutes (including intermission). It was waaay too long! There were many things that could have been cut out to make the play flow better.

We were begging for it to end. That’s the last thing you want your audience to be doing. Know when to say when.

All in all, it was a memorable evening. We had a good time hanging out with our friends, and that’s what these nights are all about.