After the success of the UK touring production of Murder On the Orient Express, Agatha Christie’s much-loved eccentric detective is back at the Festival Theatre for Death on the Nile. We had the opportunity to chat to Camilla Anvar — who is making her professional debut as Rosalie Otterbourne — about her background in student theatre at the University of Edinburgh, and why audiences are continually captivated by Christie’s whodunnits.
Initially, Anvar takes us back to her Edinburgh roots, noting the wonder of returning and seeing her name in lights. She recalls passing through Edinburgh and “seeing the big poster at Festival Theatre — it was just such a crazy moment because I used to trudge along to Bedlam, walking past that theatre […] like, I want that to be me one day!” Edinburgh is a place Camilla holds dear to her heart, having studied at Edinburgh, participated in Festival Fringe shows and even been an usher at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.
As an Edinburgh graduate, we ask about her experience having been involved in the highly competitive and varied student theatre scene. She explains her pain of auditioning for numerous shows at the Bedlam Theatre before becoming president of the society in her second year. She talks of how Edinburgh provides so much freedom as a city for students to explore, and in this way becomes unlike anywhere else: “you can just make mistakes.” However, on the flip-side she fully recognised the clique culture of theatre societies at Edinburgh. Becoming president, Anvar was keen to make changes to the Bedlam system, creating the role of Diversity and Inclusion officer, or similar while she was there; definitely a lasting change which has helped make Bedlam less white, posh and middle-class. After her exploration of theatre in Edinburgh, and auditioning persistently, she received a place at LAMDA, and went to study at this top drama school. Given her experience there and reflecting on her Edinburgh experience, she explains the need to keep pushing and pushing despite rejection and failure even at Bedlam. She tells how “I knew in my heart: I’m going to get into the best drama school and I’m going to be an actor because I know that’s who I am.” Looking back now — having completed her professional debut — she is enormously excited for the wealth of opportunities her work in the arts may bring.
With this production emerging in the light of recent adaptations, we ask Anvar how far it stays true to Christie’s novel and film versions. While the plot is similar, there are undoubtedly changes involved in transposing it to the stage: “The thing that some purists don’t really understand is that you can’t take a book & just plonk it on the stage. It doesn’t work, because there are things a play needs […] To get to what we like to see in front of us — which is drama and comedy, and twists and turns […] you have to, to a certain extent, simplify it.” This production nevertheless captures the “essence” of Agatha Christie.
In portraying Salome Otterbourne’s daughter Rosalie, Anvar talks about her efforts to humanise her. “She has these desires and […] she knows how to get them — she just goes for it and she just does it.” Rosalie’s story relates to a wider love triangle; she is “in the sort of periphery of that story, but feeds into that story […] my character shows a different side of love.” We are drawn to rooting for complex characters like Rosalie even despite their flaws: “There’s something about a character that is a little insecure, or a bit pushy, or a bit bossy, that makes them really likeable — and actually, that’s what makes them human.” Playing Glynis Barber’s on-stage daughter, Anvar talks about their similarities in real life, from liking the same snacks to the same hobbies (pilates!). Barber has been a comfort for Anvar’s professional debut: “She has been in everything under the sun! […] For my first big tour, to be under [her] wing — it’s actually crazy.”
For seasoned Agatha Christie fans, master detectives or newcomers to her whodunnits, her stories capture universal themes. “Even though it’s about clues and detective work, it’s really a story that comes from the heart and it plays into […] love and fear and revenge — all these emotional things. Sometimes a story can move so quickly that you don’t have time to feel, whereas this is a story where you get time to really get into the sort of emotions of it.”
On the reason why Christie’s stories lend themselves so well to stage productions, Anvar notes how audience members become detectives. “In a film […] you have a camera telling you where to look. In a play, you get to decide where you look. [Director Lucy Bailey] has filled [the show] with little things, like a Where’s Wally happening on stage […] all these little bits that come together and tell the story.” Even being familiar with the plot you can become get lost in the whodunnit, piecing together the puzzle as Poirot does.
Death on the Nile is running from 24-28 March at the Festival Theatre. It is part of Capital Theatres’ £10 tickets for 25 and under scheme: tickets can be booked at https://www.capitaltheatres.com/shows/death-on-the-nile/.
Production image courtesy of Capital Theatres