Peter Forster is a South Africa-raised theater scholar with degrees in dramatic literature, directing, and screenwriting who serves as the dramaturg for Deerfield Theater's production of Murder on the Orient Express. He describes the dramaturg's role as providing literary and historical context, standing "behind the people who stand behind the scenes." For this production, he created research documents covering the 1934 political climate in Europe, background on each character's country of origin, a timeline of Agatha Christie's life and writing career, and inspiration sources such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and a real-life Orient Express snowdrift incident. He characterizes his involvement as largely supplementary and non-intrusive, noting the production team has been "wonderfully independent," while he made himself available and offered recommendations on pre- and post-show music. Peter enthusiastically praises the adaptation's bold tonal choices and the way it deviates from the novel, arguing that audiences who know the story will find it fascinating precisely because it is different, and that Christie's themes of human depravity in enclosed spaces feel remarkably relevant to today's political climate.
Performances at Caruso Auditorium, 1801 Montgomery Rd., Deerfield on:
* Thursday, April 9 at 7:30pm
* Fridays, April 3 and 10 at 7:30pm
* Saturdays, April 4 and 11 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm
* Sunday, April 12 at 2:00pm
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