Stage Review - Murder on the Links (Taproot Theatre)

Stage Review - Murder on the Links
Presented By: Taproot Theatre - Seattle, WA
Show Run: July 09 - August 16, 2025 (Extended)
Date Reviewed: Friday, July 11, 2025 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

Theatre is family. Anyone who has been a part of even just one production knows that it’s more than just a cliche, it’s a fact. As I visit the same theaters regularly, I’ve come to realize that the statement isn’t just a generality either, but rather each organization seems to take on a personality of its own, a feeling that they, themselves are a unique personality. Perhaps the best example of this is the community that Karen Lund has helped build as the Producing Artistic Director of Taproot Theatre in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. Take their latest show, Murder on the Links, directed by Karen and written by Steven Dietz, who based his play on the 1923 novel by Agatha Christie. The show features Richard Nguyen Sloniker as famed detective Hercule Poirot, a role he is reprising along with his cast mate Nathan Brockett, who is once again playing Captain Hastings, Poirot’s long time companion and chronicler. The two first worked together with these same characters in 2022’s Black Coffee, another Agatha Christie mystery. Richard is no stranger to reprises, he’s played the famous butler Jeeves multiple times, and he’s not alone in returning to the Taproot stage. In fact, out of this cast of six, only Betsy Mugavero is making her debut at Taproot as “Actor Two” in Murder on the Links, everyone else, Jeff Allen Pierce (“Actor One”), Tyler Todd Kimmel (“Actor Three”), and Claire Marx (“Actor Four”) have been seen acting within the walls of Taproot in the recent past. The fact that there are so many returning actors says a good deal about what it must be like to work at Taproot, and when actors come back to reprise roles, it’s a lot like a family reunion, for both the actors and the audience. The result of all of this is not just a feeling of familiarity between audiences and the theatre company, but also a sense of loyalty, which is a prime reason why Taproot has been able to reach its subscription and financial goals more quickly than other theaters coming out of the Covid pandemic. As far as this particular show, Murder on the Links, which has been extended on the Jewell MainStage at Taproot through August 16, it’s more of a lampoon of Agatha Christie and her murder mysteries than a serious piece, and while it is hilarious in its construction, the play is never corny nor is the suspense of the mystery contained therein ever taken lightly. Perhaps because of the familiarity of the cast with each other and the theatre, or perhaps because the group is so good as an ensemble, Murder on the Links is a delightful and captivating play that pays homage to its genre while presenting a laugh-a-minute comedy that will leave audiences in stitches.

Dietz‘s adaptation largely follows the plot from Agatha Christie’s original story. Poirot and Hastings arrive in Merlinville-sur-Mer after receiving a mysterious letter from one Paul Renauld, imploring the detective to come urgently. By the time the pair arrive, Renauld has been murdered, his body found on this golf course. The play follows the investigation of the crime, throws a few others in for good measure, along with any number of red herrings. What this version does so brilliantly, though, is make it an ensemble-driven farce. Outside of the two main characters, there are over 25 roles for the other four actors to share with varied genders, ethnicities, and nationalities. Each of these characters is unique, and to pull this off the actors must be able to switch between them almost instantaneously. It also requires a good deal of agility from costume designer Nanette Acosta, who has designed unique costumes pieces for each of the characters, each with the ability to be taken off and put on in record time. The character changes remind me of one the I Love Lucy episode “Job Switching” and that famous scene with Lucy, Ethel, and a conveyer belt, when the chocolates come at them with increasing speed and they hilariously try to keep up. As Murder on the Links goes on, especially in the second act, the changes get quicker and the action becomes more frantic, sometimes requiring actors to change mid-scene, even mid-conversation. It’s funny, it’s farcical, and Actors 1 through 4 perform these quick changes with precision while never taking anything away from the mystery at hand. While Betsy, Jeff, Tyler, and Claire provide so much of the comic relief, Richard and Nathan do their part by playing it straight.

A big part of this play, and the multitudes of characters that each actor plays, is the accents, and every time I think I’ve seen Marianna de Fazio’s best work as a dialect coach, along comes a show like this to leave the others in its proverbial dust. With over 25 characters, in addition to Poirot and Hastings, there are just as many accents and dialects, and the amount of nuance between a French accent and a Belgian one, just as an example, is so slight, it’s just perceptible. Shows without the kind of guidance and coaching that Marianna provides here, not to mention the talent in a cast like Karen’s for this show, might not even try for those slight differences, especially in a comedy, but it’s such an important part of the humor, not to mention the believability and individuality of the characters, that doing so is the right choice and what makes Murder on the Links such an enjoyable show.

The most prevalent accent, certainly, is Hercule Poirot himself, and not only does Richard manage that part of the character without fail, he’s got the posture, the mannerisms, the vocal delivery, and of course the mustache of the neat-freak detective, while Nathan as Hastings is masterful in his role as the show’s narrator and sidekick to the Belgian. Richard doesn’t miss a beat, he’s on for the entire show as his character assembles the clues, dispatches the red herrings, and eventually puts it all together with the style that only Poirot can. He and Nathan work so well together, their dialogue is quick, natural in an anticipatory way, and wonderfully delivered. In fact, the entire cast has a strong command of the requirements for conveying the humor of this farcical murder mystery.

Murder on the Links is a murder mystery in which a crime is committed on a golf course. I was curious, and I brought this up with Karen when I interviewed her for our Behind the Curtain episode about the show, how scenic designer Mark Lund (oh, and how much more can theatre feel like family when spouses lead the creative team) was going to present the Jewell MainStage at Taproot as a golf course. I will say that yes, there is golf played on the thrust configured stage and Mark has done a nice job here, though the playing of the game mostly comes down to the actors. That said, what I like the most about this set is its depth. With the stage floor painted green, the back of the set does well to resemble a clubhouse, something you might see in the Northeast specifically, but extremely well done nonetheless. As an “ensemble driven comic farce”, there is a lot of movement, and while the stage itself doesn’t change much as actors and their characters travel from room to room, or from the outside to the inside, the movement and the frantic nature is created largely by a choreography that involves both the actors and the smaller set pieces working together in a ballet that changes one location to another, a dance that is accentuated by Tucker Goodman’s excellent lighting, which, like the accents I mentioned above, is nuanced in how it illuminates each location represented on stage differently. Again, though, the changes have to be quick, the actors moving either themselves from one locale to another or the furniture or other set pieces, and the lighting along with it. It’s all designed quite well, and together the elements come together to create a marvelous piece of theatrical comedy wrapped up in a murder mystery. Hat

The latest play on stage at Taproot Theatre is both a lampoon of and a tribute to the murder mystery genre popularized by Agatha Christie. Led by Richard Nguyen Sloniker as a just about perfect Hercule Poirot, and under the direction of Karen Lund, Murder on the Links is a hilarious adaptation of Christie’s 1923 novel that is told by a cast of actors who understand the nuance of character and how to mix suspense and comedy in a phenomenal way. Frantic and fun, the play is a smartly written murder mystery that takes a complex story and presents it as a tongue-in-cheek ensemble driven farce that fits the personality of Taproot Theatre perfectly.

Murder on the Links has been extended and runs on Taproot Theatre’s Jewell MainStage through August 16. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://taproottheatre.org/.

Photo credit: Robert Wade