Art Beat Review: Hercule Poirot arrives at Edmonds Driftwood Players

Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Wade James Theatre, 950 Main St.


Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.; May 15 to June 7 (as of May 13 all 2 p.m. matinees are sold out or only have single tickets remaining)

Tickets online or call 425-774-9600


Rating: 13+

Run time: Approx. two hours, including one intermission

As Edmonds Driftwood Players (EDP) ushers its 67th season to a close, the company turns to a classic mystery for its final MainStage production: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, which introduces the meticulous detective Hercule Poirot. Adapted for the stage by local playwright and author Kate Danley, and directed by Bryar Freed-Golden, the production is shaped by a unique and close collaboration with Danley.

Danley, who was adapting novels into plays during the COVID-19 pandemic, said she came across Christie’s novel and was instantly drawn to it. She described the experience as “like being a painter in a gallery studying the brushstrokes of a master.”

Freed-Golden said she was immediately taken with the script. “When I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down,” she said. “It was like falling madly in love.” She added that the play is “beautifully written, with a lyrical kind of quality.”

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is staged as a memory play, a theatrical form in which events are recalled and narrated from the past. Here, Lieutenant Hastings serves as the audience’s guide through the play.

Set in 1916 during World War I, the story follows Hastings (Duncan Thorvilson), who arrives at the manor of his old friend John Cavendish (Seamus C. Smith) while recovering from injuries received during the war. 

When John’s mother, Emily Inglethorp (Carol Wieltschnig), is mysteriously poisoned in the middle of the night, suspicion quickly falls on everyone in the household. This group of characters definitely had the motives and opportunities to poison Emily. Enter Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Chris Ensweiler), who must untangle a web of secrets and find whodunit.


My Neighborhood News Group attended the opening night, a sold-out performance filled with theater-goers chattering and saying their hellos from across the theater. I took my seat and noticed ominous cello music playing in the background.

The production is set in 1916 at Styles Court, a large country estate in Essex near the village of Styles St. Mary. It evokes the period through antique furnishings like tufted sofas, fainting couches, ornate gold-framed portraits and a large fireplace with a mantel clock.

Thorvilson, as Hastings, is the first to step onto the stage in his debut performance with EDP. Arriving as though just off the train, Thorvilson carries a bit of the Hugh Grant charm. Hastings is the story’s narrator and guides the audience under a circular spotlight, addressing us as “Dear reader.” Speaking of his mentor Hercule Poirot, Hastings remarks, “All good detective work is a matter of method.” 

Chris Ensweiler, also making his debut with EDP, steps into the role of Poirot with measured precision and charm, balancing the fastidious Belgian detective’s sharp intellect with humor. 

Ensweiler’s Poirot is endearing. Dressed in a suit with bow tie, pocket watch, Homburg-style hat and of course, a handsome moustache, his Poirot arrives fully formed. His French accent and occasional French phrases are “magnifique.” Ensweiler leans into the detective’s particularities with delight. He even carries a “murder bag,” a small valise containing testing tubes and envelopes that he takes with him everywhere he goes.

The relationship between Poirot and Hastings is equally endearing. Hastings clearly admires Poirot, who in turn enlists him as an assistant in the investigation. “By chance! Mon ami,” Poirot tells him, leaning into the camaraderie that grounds the mystery in friendship.

We see a cart with fine china where coffee is served. One would assume tea, but actually during this time coffee was more expensive, so it was seen as a luxury. Wieltsching as Emily appears in a feathered hat and period costume reminiscent of Lady Grantham from Downton Abbey, establishing her as the matriarch.

Nina McKinstry as Dorcas is funny and matter of fact as Emily’s parlor maid, with her accent distinguishing her from the rest of the household. Inspector James Japp, a local detective played by Braden King, seems chummy with Poirot and quite confident in his own detective abilities.

During transitions, the lights dim while Hastings speaks to the audience in narration. At times, a small scene unfolds at the front of the stage as other actors move furniture and set pieces on and off, re-staging a different room of the estate. The effect gives the illusion of a large estate with glimpses into each of its multiple living spaces. Cello music continues, matching the mood of the previous scene and carrying the production into the next. With all the moving of furniture and shuffling of feet, the transitions also give the sense of turning pages from one chapter to the next.

Amit Rosenberg portrays the mysterious Alfred Inglethorp, while Else Buckley’s Lawrence Cavendish and Maleah Muriekes’ Mary add believable layers of family tension and suspicion. 

Nicola Amos as Evie Howard delivers a strong character set in her ways and in her opinions of others, while Lia Verdeja, a Dominican-Belgian actor making her debut at EDP, brings a spirited energy to the ensemble as Cynthia Murdoch. Cynthia works as a dispenser at the local hospital, a detail that echoes Christie’s own experience working as a medical dispenser in London during World War I, where she would have learned about herbal medicines and poisons. Verdeja’s Cynthia is bright and believable in a period-specific nurse’s costume.

One of my favorite moments in the play came when it’s suspected that Emily (Wieltsching) has been poisoned in her bedroom in the middle of the night. Hastings (Thorvilson), John Cavendish (Smith) and Lawrence Cavendish (Buckley) — all with their backs turned to the audience — pretend to rap at her locked bedroom door before finally opening it. 

The sequence builds tension, particularly in the use of the invisible prop as the actors mime struggling with the door and then finally succeeding in forcing it open. The audience responds with amusement. Even the cello music heightens its pace to match the action. Smith also makes his first appearance with EDP, bringing charm and mystery to the role.

The ensemble also includes Jayton Newbury as the elusive Dr. Bauerstein, whose bright red handkerchief perhaps serves as a visual red herring.

Poirot serves as the production’s comic relief, bringing endless smiles, giggles and delight to the stage. Ensweiler’s performance of Poirot is deliciously entertaining.

We see Ensweiler shaking his hands to demonstrate the detective’s anxiousness while trying to build a delicate house of cards; Poirot explains to Hastings that balancing the cards requires “precision of the fingers,” which in turn leads to “precision of the brain.” Obsessively neat and attentive to even the smallest details, Ensweiler’s Poirot recalls the eccentricities of Monk.

Every movement – from a tiptoed lean forward to a whimsical dance across the stage – becomes part of Poirot’s charm. Ensweiler remains fully committed to the role all the way through the final “grand applause.”

The manor setting, designed by Thomas “Rex” Goulding, transforms the Wade James Theatre stage into an early 20th century English estate in true Downton Abbey fashion. The dark blue wallpaper, soft lamplighting and period costumes carry echoes of the story’s aristocratic world.

Costumes by Diane Johnston help establish both period and personality, with the women undergoing numerous costume changes throughout the play. Lighting by Gwyn Skone and sound design by Matt Jorgensen heighten the suspense through thunder, bell sounds, ringing telephones and recurring cello music that follows the thread of the story. 

The lighting is particularly striking, at times appearing as though sunlight were streaming through a grand estate window and spilling across the floor. Subtle lighting shifts throughout the production become as much a part of the storytelling as the characters themselves.

Behind the scenes, Danley also served as dialect coach. Assistant Properties Manager Chantal Burns said sourcing a 1916 bromide tin for the production proved difficult, ultimately requiring the prop to be recreated. Properties Designer Nancy Johnson said the purple dispatch case presented a similar challenge before finally coming together. That attention to detail is evident throughout the production, from the set dressing to the smallest props, resulting in a richly textured world that feels meticulously assembled – precise enough to earn the approval of Hercule Poirot himself.

The production showcases Agatha Christie’s signature use of red herrings and misdirection, keeping audiences guessing until the very end.

For Edmonds Driftwood Players, which has entertained audiences since 1958, The Mysterious Affair at Styles serves as a celebration of high-quality community theatre and a fitting conclusion to the company’s 67th season.

Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles runs through June 7, 2026.

Based in Edmonds, Nahline Gouin is a freelance writer, ceramicist and arts advocate with experience in art museums and performing arts centers. She continues to create with clay, homeschool her son and write as a creative practice.