logo
Sold-Out Hit Returns: Murder On The Orient Express Back On Stage Feb 2026

Sold-Out Hit Returns: Murder On The Orient Express Back On Stage Feb 2026

Scoop30-04-2025
With just a handful of single tickets left for its current season, Auckland Theatre Company's Murder on the Orient Express has officially become the biggest box office hit in the company's history.
Now, due to overwhelming demand, audiences will have a second chance to climb aboard the world's most infamous train. The return season of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig, will play at the ASB Waterfront Theatre from 7 – 15 February 2026.
Tickets are on sale now. All aboard – again!
Directed by acclaimed theatre-maker Shane Bosher, this spectacular production plunges audiences into the glamorous and dangerous world of 1930s Europe. With its full-throttle mix of intrigue, danger, rich period detail and sharp humour, the show has struck a chord with Auckland theatregoers and critics.
'Murder on the Orient Express is a delightful piece of entertainment, two hours of pure escapism produced to the highest quality, and the exact type of blockbuster-esque theatre it would be great to see more of.' – NZ Herald
'With a set that dazzles, a cast that delights, and direction that keeps things snappy — providing everything right there on the stage." - Blackguard Media Reviews
"This Murder on the Orient Express manages to get the balance of the story just right, paying homage to the brilliance of Agatha Christie while expertly using comedy and a light-hearted irreverence to create a crackingly good whodunnit." - Andrew Whiteside
"…pure, unadulterated entertainment." - NZ Arts Review
"A madcap romp of a whodunnit full of red herrings, high drama and hijinks; escalating to a very Agatha Christie climax." - Red Raven
The production features a killer cast led by the iconic Cameron Rhodes as Hercule Poirot, joined by an ensemble of Aotearoa's finest: Rima Te Wiata, Jennifer Ludlam, Mirabai Pease, Sophie Henderson, and Bronwyn Ensor, with Mayen Mehta, Ryan O'Kane, Jordan Selwyn and Edwin Wright rounding out the lineup of suspects.
Agatha Christie's masterpiece remains one of the greatest whodunnits ever written – a locked-room mystery packed with unforgettable characters, jaw-dropping twists, and exquisite suspense. And in this sumptuous production, every detail – from the train carriages to the costuming – is a ticket to another era.
This return season invites both first-time sleuths and returning fans to experience the theatrical event everyone's talking about. Whether you've solved the mystery or not, you'll want to be part of the conspiracy.
DON'T MISS THE RETURN OF A SELL-OUT SMASH AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Mana Moana Wellington Shows With Signature Choir And NZSO Now Sold Out
Mana Moana Wellington Shows With Signature Choir And NZSO Now Sold Out

Scoop

time4 days ago

  • Scoop

Mana Moana Wellington Shows With Signature Choir And NZSO Now Sold Out

Press Release – NZSO Mana Moana celebrates two worlds of music, with the NZSO led by acclaimed conductor Brent Stewart, and each performance hosted by talented actor and comedian Tofiga Fepuleai. Wellington has again embraced the hit show Mana Moana and its spectacular fusion of symphony and songs of the Pacific. Both performances by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the 50-strong Wellington-based Signature Choir this Thursday and Friday at the Michael Fowler Centre are sold out. Mana Moana celebrates two worlds of music, with the NZSO led by acclaimed conductor Brent Stewart, and each performance hosted by talented actor and comedian Tofiga Fepulea'i. 'We are incredibly humbled and grateful to return home to two sold-out shows,' says Signature Choir Founder and Music Director Helen Tupai. 'After selling out back-to-back performances at the iconic Sydney Opera House in June, coming back to where our Mana Moana journey began and reuniting with the world-class NZSO is the perfect way to close our 2025 Mana Moana season. These sold-out shows are a testament to our communities' unwavering support, and we cannot wait to put on an unforgettable homecoming show!' Following 2022's sensational debut in Wellington and a hit performance with the NZSO in Auckland in 2023, Mana Moana reached new heights this year with a second show at Auckland's Spark Arena in May. Sydney audiences loved every minute of the choir's historic performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra last month. 'What an incredible performance! The energy in the room was electric. So privileged to experience this iconic moment,' an audience member told ABC Pacific. Wellington audiences on 24 and 25 July will again experience an energetic, unique, and emotional celebration, bringing traditional and contemporary songs from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. The exciting music selection blends beloved favourites from the previous shows with fresh new arrangements, offering an even richer experience for audiences. The stunning mix of traditional and contemporary songs includes the Samoan classic Manu o le Vaveao, Nepituno —written by Queen Salote Tupou III to commemorate the 1953 Royal Tour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's visit to Tonga—and an exhilarating medley featuring some of the most iconic Fijian songs, and much more. In 2022 a collaborative journey between the NZSO and Signature Choir to celebrate and promote the languages and stories of Pasifika. Their aim was to create high-quality audio recordings and videos of Pasifika songs in partnership with RNZ. This was then followed by a live performance at the Michael Fowler Centre where audience-recorded videos from the show have accumulated in over 1 million views on social media, highlighting the massive impact Mana Moana had and resulted in an incredible musical experience in 2023 and 2025 at Spark Arena.

Old words meet new truths in next-gen Romeo & Juliet
Old words meet new truths in next-gen Romeo & Juliet

NZ Herald

time16-07-2025

  • NZ Herald

Old words meet new truths in next-gen Romeo & Juliet

The cast of Auckland Theatre Company's Romeo and Juliet clad in costumes inspired by 1960s Italy. Photo / Supplied When Benjamin Kilby-Henson describes his version of Romeo and Juliet, it's tempting to wonder how much of Shakespeare's play is begin with, Romeo and Juliet aren't the only star-crossed lovers in the Auckland Theatre Company production he's directing this month: Romeo's friends Benvolio and Mercutio are also a couple.

Review: Roger Hall's End of Summer Time knows it audience
Review: Roger Hall's End of Summer Time knows it audience

The Spinoff

time23-06-2025

  • The Spinoff

Review: Roger Hall's End of Summer Time knows it audience

Sam Brooks reviews the new play from New Zealand's most successful playwright. Roger Hall's new comedy End of Summer Time is all about Dickie Hart. The character, returning from two earlier plays (C'mon Black and You Gotta Be Joking!) is a retired farmer who moves from Wellington to an apartment block in Takapuna with his wife to be closer to his grandkids. He's very much set in his conservative ways, not especially interested in new ways of thinking, and definitely not new ways of living life. He is pitched as a loveable curmudgeon, but your mileage might vary on how loveable he is. The comedy on display in Auckland Theatre Company's production of End of Summer Time is as broad as the ASB Waterfront stage, which is to say that it's pretty authentic to the Hall's creation; these aren't dad jokes, these are granddad jokes. End of Summer Time is a reflection of a very specific lens on Auckland, in that Dickie Hart's idea of South Auckland probably means 'south of Smith and Caugheys' (RIP). Hart has other ideas you might associate with a man of his demographic; he has thoughts about the attractive woman who lives in his building, the idea of learning reo Māori (that joke got more winces than laughs), and the very basic concept of veganism. None of these thoughts are surprising, and this allows Hall a very broad canvas to paint on; we can feel the punchlines coming in our bodies before we even hear them. Andrew Grainger, an ATC mainstay and favourite, does great work. He has to carry a near two-hour show, and with a fairly minimal set, hold a spell over the audience. He also has to marry two competing, conflicting, sides of Dickie Hart. He is both showman and grump. He makes jokes but refuses to be made a joke of. It is a testament to Grainger's charm – which softens some of Hart's rougher takes on modern society – and craft – which brings a clownish physicality that doesn't necessarily exist on the page – that End of Summer Time works. He's an ideal match for Hall's comedy: Hall loads the gun, Grainger fires it. Throughout the show's first act, you can feel how surgically Hall has peppered the show with jokes – certain pockets laugh at the sports jokes, others at the difficulties of finding your way back to a car in the Civic Theatre carpark, others the reality of driving up Takapuna's Lake Road. Then comes the interval. While an interval is likely a logistical and economic reality, it does End of Summer Time a disservice. The first act cliffhanger – which I won't spoil here, but is signalled fairly early on in the show – drops as heavily as the literal curtain that it cues. It also completely breaks the spell that Grainger has on the audience; we're allowed to leave the space, talk amongst ourselves, and essentially, judge the production before it has even finished. This is especially jarring because of the huge tonal shift that occurs after the interval. While the first act plays as close to a stand-up set as a solo play possibly can, the second act is an interrogation of loneliness, particularly the brand of loneliness experienced by older males who are used to being communicated at rather than embarking on that communication themselves. Grainger communicates Dickie Hart's reality as movingly in this act as he did comedically in the first act, but we're placed at a distance from him. The interval also allows us to make a judgement of Dickie Hart's character before this particular arc is completed, which is especially rough given where he actually lands – a place of relative enlightenment, a place where he is open to the world and its many differences, and even grateful for it. The interval also opens up the audience to discuss the odd tension at the core of End of Summer Time. It's important to acknowledge in this era of dubious media literacy that any playwright, and any fiction writer really, does not necessarily agree with or endorse everything their characters do and say. It would be a mistake to immediately assume that Dickie Hart is a reflection of Roger Hall, or a mouthpiece to communicate Hall's ideas and opinions in the world. The man has 47 plays to his name, reflecting a kaleidoscope of politics, social and otherwise – if they were all soapboxes of his opinions, it's unlikely he would be as successful as he has been. The context of End of Summer Time also makes this delineation difficult. Hart and Hall are demographically similar characters on the surface; cis straight men of retirement age who live on the North Shore. While it would be a mistake to assume that Hart and Hall share politics and views on the world, it's one that I can imagine an audience making. The fact that End of Summer Time is a solo show makes this even trickier; any voice that might push back against Hart's occasional sexism, occasional racism, and general lack of tolerance for what he's unfamiliar with is filtered through Hart himself, usually in a condescending voice. On opening night, full of people attending for free, and largely belonging to a younger demographic than the show's target audience, I detected quite a few winces at some of Hart's comments. I wonder if those winces might be replaced by laughs in an audience of ticket-buyers, and whether they'll understand that Hall means for them to be the targets of the jokes, rather than have their worldview confirmed by them. When I profiled him earlier this month, Hall said that the new generation has a tendency to use the stage as a pulpit for their politics. 'Come along and you'll be better informed and your opinion will change on whatever issue it is. That's not necessarily what it's for – or entertaining!' Every piece of art contains the politics of its creator, however, intentionally or not. Even if the piece of art is meant solely for entertainment, it is the product of a subjective mind, with its own way of seeing the world. Hall's work, including End of Summer Time, is no different. His plays reflect an understanding of New Zealand that is specific, if not unique, to him. I truly believe that End of Summer Time is more of a critique of Dickie Hart than an endorsement, but I spent far too much of the show wondering if the method of delivery softens that critique to the point of dullness. But look, Hall knows his audience; he's been writing for them for half a century, and they've shown up in droves in turn. They have grown up with him, from the office workers of Glide Time, to the middle-aged friends of Social Climbers, to the retirees of Last Legs. Broadly speaking, these people have mortgages, not landlords. You might assume, then, that this audience doesn't want to be challenged. Perhaps they don't. End of Summer Time might be for an audience of Dickie Harts. They exist in our world, walking down our supermarket aisles, and voting in our elections. I can imagine them laughing at many of the jokes, even the ones that brush against the lines of racism, sexism, and general intolerance, if not outright disdain. Inside this show, conservative in both form and delivery, he actually puts up a challenge for that audience. If Dickie Hart can change, if he can look a little bit wider, and a little bit more kindly at the diverse city he lives in, can't they? It's a noble, if idealistic challenge, and I hope that those Dickie Harts can hear it underneath the laughter.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store