David Suchet – Poirot & More

I’m not a big fan of whodunits. Every so often, I’ll catch one of the old classics like Columbo, or Murder, She Wrote, while I also remember tuning in to Diagnosis Murder every weekday afternoon when I got home from school in the 90s. 

I would argue they are as ‘family-friendly’ as a crime show can be is why I’m able to watch them, but pretty much anything else from the genre either creeps me out or gives me nightmares. 

The only other exception is Poirot – but it’s got to be David Suchet run. 

I enjoyed him in the role of Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective and I remember sitting down with my mum to watch the final episode of the drama back in 2013. So, when my local theatre emailed to say the actor was going on tour to talk about his career, I was quite excited. 

Partly, because I was a fan of Poirot, but mostly because I’m fascinated by ‘In Conversation With…’ style events which pop up with actors now and again. I’ve a similar interest with music – like when you used to purchase a CD and you’d pull out the insert? Well, I’d bypass the lyrics section totally and instead go to the back of the booklet to see who was involved in making each record, what they did, etc. I just really enjoy the behind-the-scenes details. 

Anyway… Fast-forward two tickets and six months later, and the day had finally arrived for David Suchet – Poirot & More. 

I always enjoy going to the Grand Opera House. It’s such a beautiful venue and has a lot of interesting history, with a number of big names having tread the boards over the years including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and Dame Judi Dench. 

I’d secured really good seats and while we weren’t allowed photos once the show started, I was able to take this one prior to curtain up. Soon, the man himself appeared alongside journalist and old friend Geoffrey Wansell who – it turned out – was his conversational partner for the tour. 

The show was divided into two halves with the first shaped around his early life and career. It was interesting to hear how he got into acting and his time at the Royal Shakespeare Company (he became a member in 1973), as well as his long-standing run as Lady Bracknell in the stage production of The Importance of Being Earnest. He was enthusiastic, yet modest, as he shared various moments from his life but he never really delved into the anecdotes so there wasn’t anything overly revealing for the audience to go away with.

The second half saw the thespian come to life as he opened with a passionate speech by Salieri from the Broadway production of Amadeus he starred in from ‘98-2000. He then followed this with a handful of readings from Shakespeare and I was immediately transported back to my GCSE English classes with terms like iambic pentameter, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and more. 

The point of this (aside from his love of Shakespeare), Suchet explained, was to show how he went about the aspects of characterising the role of Poirot; from the way he thinks, speaks, and acts. Again though, he didn’t really dive into a lot of detail outside of this process or share any narratives from behind-the-scenes. 

There was definitely a polished feel to the show, especially as Suchet didn’t take questions, but there was still enough of an impression of spontaneity to keep the audience entertained throughout. If I’d one criticism, I would have liked him to talk about Poirot a little more, given the title of the show and how it was pitched; but overall it was a very enjoyable evening and watching Suchet in the theatre, a place he loves so much, and seeing him perform so passionately was an emotional and unique experience that will stay with me for a long time.