Actors Charlene Hong White and Nathan Whitmer worked through different challenges for their roles in Virginia Rep’s current production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, which runs through October 12.
Hong White honed in on her English accent for her role as Mary Debenham while Whitmer had to balance channeling two characters — Colonel Arbuthnot, who is Mary’s love interest, and Samuel Ratchett.
The goal for Whitmer is having the audience see the two men as separate and unique individuals. “I have to find the character’s truth and create two grounded, believable, truthful people,” says Whitmer, a 20-plus year veteran of the stage who is making his Virginia Rep debut in this production.
Hong White, a self-described Anglophile who lists the British science fiction series Doctor Who as one of her favorite shows, worked with the show’s dialect coach, Amanda Durst, to fine-tune her accent.
“Having a dialect coach was a gift,” says Hong White who took up acting after the pandemic. “Amanda is an incredible resource for us. Working with her little adjustments was super helpful.”
Sorting Out the Mystery
Both actors are thrilled to be in the 11-character production, which features legendary detective, Hercule Poirot, trying to find out who murdered a wealthy and despised passenger in his locked train compartment. Poirot finds himself trapped by a snowstorm and surrounded by suspects, each harboring dark secrets and hidden motives. In usual fashion, the detective meticulously unravels an intricate web of lies and deceit, revealing a shocking conclusion.
“I’m a huge mystery junkie. I love Agatha Christie,” says Hong White. “When I saw Virginia Rep was putting on the show I thought, ‘I would love to be in it if I can’.”
Hong White loves Mary Debenham as a character. “She presents as a proper English woman who can appear pretty reserved,” she says. “The more I get to know her and delve into her character, I find she is very strong. She has a quiet strength to her that I find inspiring. She is always trying to do the right thing even when she is caught between a rock and a hard place.”
Debenham is anxious about a lot of things and Hong White says she can relate to the character’s feelings. “Her anxiety comes from a posture of trying to do her best,” she says. “She is anxious, but she taps into her strength to complete a task and she cares about the people around her. That is something I can tap into and aspire to.”
A Puzzling Situation
Whitmer believes you have to find ways to relate to the character as well as why and what they do.
“It’s the human element. I understand that moment they are going through,” he says. “One of my characters is a little rough. I don’t want to be like that. At heart, he doesn’t feel respected or understood. I know what it’s like to feel misunderstood.”
He doesn’t connect with the mentality of men in the 1930s that featured leading with aggression and power. “But you do understand why someone would behave that way,” he says.
The key to this type of mystery is making “sure all the puzzle pieces fit together,” he adds. “No matter what goes on, we have to make sure we are lifting those elements together so the audience can put them together.”
This is the first time he has worked with Hong White. “We spend so much time on stage. We play two people who love and trust each other. It was so easy to do that with her from day one. She is open, honest, giving and generous on stage and she’s a fantastic listener. That is what you want to look for. You want a scene partner that gives back to you and you give back to them.”
Hong White hopes the audience will walk away with the message of what does it mean to do the right thing and what is justice?
“What does it mean for a community to grieve. This particular play with our fabulous cast and director has deeper layers underneath and a surprising edge,” she says. “And that’s something I find very compelling.”
Murder on the Orient Express plays through October 12th at Virginia Rep’s November Theatre. Tickets are available on their website.
