Directors: Andrew Muir and Tristan McShepherd
Creators: Liza McLean and David Suchet
With over 50 years of playing heroes and villains, David Suchet’s live show really delivers on its promise of Poirot and More. Featuring a blend of performance and interview with Suchet’s friend Geoffrey Wansell, the show, filmed by Original Theatre, offers insight into Suchet’s most notable roles. The retrospective, co-created by Suchet and Liza McLean, also builds a picture of Suchet’s early years, his rise through the theatrical ranks and how he approached playing a character known to billions of readers.
When it comes to the famous Belgian detective, Suchet has – as you might expect – a slew of anecdotes ready for us. When offered the TV role, Suchet’s older brother, journalist John Suchet, advised him to “not touch it with a bargepole”. Luckily, Wansell counselled otherwise, and David Suchet ended up playing Agatha Christie’s detective for 25 years. Suchet had approval from the Christie estate to play Hercule, impressing them with his 1985 role in Blott on the Landscape.
Suchet clearly still feels the privilege of playing this character and made a conscious decision to portray him according to Christie’s own words. Suchet’s determination to wear the right clothes, perfect the accent (French with a hint of guttural Flemish) and even walk the walk (what Christie referred to as a “rapid, mincing gait”), highlights his incredible attention to detail.
The importance of research crops up several times in the show, but with Poirot, it takes on a special significance. With a character already played by names such as Charles Laughton, Albert Finney and Peter Ustinov, Suchet deliberately digs into Poirot’s eccentricities, his authentic self. We are encouraged to laugh with him, not at him. It’s a subtle difference. Suchet talks about Poirot with great affection: the role of a lifetime that opened up other opportunities.
The show really broadens our perception of the actor. He originally started playing male leads, but found this an uncomfortable fit. It wasn’t until his final production at drama school, that it was suggested Suchet would fare better in character roles. It was a good instinct. Suchet joined the RSC in 1973, and his theatrical career is given equal billing here, for good reason.
He opens the second half of the show with a monologue from Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. A role for which Suchet received Tony and Olivier award nominations, the genial actor is visibly twisted with envy, as he immerses himself in the character of Salieri. Suchet’s passion for theatre, to demystify it, culminates in a brief masterclass of how Shakespeare crafted language. It may sound onerous, but Suchet keeps it accessible. Suchet never takes himself too seriously, sharing instances of when performances have gone wrong: everything from prop malfunctions to hecklers on Broadway.
Poirot and More, while sweeping across Suchet’s career, doesn’t leave out the good stuff and won’t disappoint the fans. There’s plenty of Hercule to delight them. But by going deeper, into Suchet’s personal and professional history, the retrospective reminds us that Suchet is not only a talented actor; he’s a consummate storyteller.
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The Reviews Hub Score
A consummate storyteller
