We stepped into Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre on 30 August 2026 expecting a murder mystery. What we got was something considerably richer: an elegant, funny and beautifully constructed evening of theatre that proves Agatha Christie’s greatest trick may not be the murder itself, but her ability to make an entire room suspect everyone.

There is something wonderfully fitting about watching Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd inside Montecasino.

Montecasino already feels like a place built for theatrical escapism. Its Tuscan-inspired surroundings, restaurants, entertainment and bustling atmosphere make it easy to leave ordinary Johannesburg behind for an evening. Then you walk into the Pieter Toerien Montecasino Theatre, take your seat and suddenly find yourself transported into another world — one filled with secrets, suspicion, carefully chosen words and people who appear to be hiding considerably more than they are willing to say.

On 30 August 2026, that world belonged to Hercule Poirot.

And what a Poirot.

A Christie classic reaches its centenary

The timing of this production is particularly special.

Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was first published in 1926, making 2026 its 100th anniversary. The official Agatha Christie website describes it as the book that changed her career, while the novel remains particularly famous for its startling revelation.

A century later, the fundamental ingredients remain remarkably effective: a murder, a house full of potential suspects, competing motives, carefully constructed alibis and a detective who refuses to accept that anything is quite as simple as it appears.

The South African stage production is based on Mark Shanahan’s 2023 stage adaptation, with Alan Swerdlow directing and Denis Hutchinson responsible for the design. The production brought together a 12-member cast led by Alan Committie as Hercule Poirot and Graham Hopkins as Dr James Sheppard.

For its Johannesburg run, the production moved to Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 21 August 2026, with the advertised run extending to 27 September.

That placed our 30 August visit firmly in the middle of the Johannesburg run — and, judging by the energy in the theatre, the mystery was already working its magic.

The mystery begins before Poirot even takes over

One of the cleverest aspects of this adaptation is that it does not rush to make everything about Poirot.

Instead, Dr James Sheppard, played by Graham Hopkins, becomes an important narrative anchor. Sheppard is the village doctor and serves as both a character within the story and a narrator guiding us through the strange chain of events.

That structure matters.

Rather than simply watching Poirot investigate a murder, we are gradually introduced to the community around Roger Ackroyd. We meet people with relationships, grievances, secrets and complicated histories.

There is Roger Ackroyd, the wealthy man at the centre of the mystery, played by Mike Huff.

There is Gertrude Ackroyd, portrayed by Louise Saint-Claire.

There is Flora Ackroyd, played by Mary-Anne Wright, and Ralph Paton, played by Dean Goldblum.

There is Ackroyd’s secretary Helen Russel, played by Sharon Spiegel Wagner, along with Parker the butler, played by Brett Krüger, and Ursula Bourne, played by Sarah Wolhuter.

Then there is Major Hector Blunt, played by Michael Richard, and the wonderfully bumbling Inspector Raglan, played by Russel Savadier.

And, of course, there is Caroline Sheppard, played by Dianne Simpson — a character whose appetite for gossip makes her considerably more useful to an investigation than she might initially appear.

The full cast also includes Mike Huff, Brett Krüger, Michael Richard, Russel Savadier, Louise Saint-Claire, Mary-Anne Wright, Sarah Wolhuter and Dean Goldblum alongside Committie, Hopkins, Simpson and Wagner.

The result is precisely what a Christie mystery requires: too many people, too many secrets and just enough information to make you think you have figured everything out.

Alan Committie doesn’t simply play Poirot — he owns him

If there is one performance that becomes impossible to ignore, it is Alan Committie’s Hercule Poirot.

Committie brings something particularly South African to a character who has been played by an extraordinary list of international performers, while still respecting the essential characteristics that make Poirot Poirot.

The precision.

The vanity.

The observation.

The intellect.

The physical comedy.

And, most importantly, those famous little grey cells.

But what makes Committie’s performance work so beautifully is that the comedy never completely overwhelms the detective.

He can make the audience laugh with a look, a pause, a gesture or an exaggerated reaction, and then suddenly shift into something far more serious. That change of register is crucial because Poirot cannot merely be a caricature.

He has to be clever.

He has to command the room.

And we have to believe that he is several steps ahead of everyone else.

Committie does.

A recent Montecasino review similarly praised his ability to combine comedy with the sharper intelligence of the character, while another review noted that his performance avoids simply turning Poirot into an obvious caricature.

Watching him interact with the other characters is where some of the production’s greatest comic electricity emerges.

Particularly when Poirot finds himself opposite Inspector Raglan.

Russel Savadier’s Raglan is delightfully chaotic, creating a wonderful contrast with Poirot’s controlled, methodical approach. The pairing gives the production some of its biggest laughs without destroying the central mystery.

It is a relationship that reminds us that great murder mystery theatre does not have to be relentlessly dark.

Sometimes the funniest person in the room is also the person taking the murder most seriously.

Graham Hopkins provides the perfect counterweight

If Committie’s Poirot is theatrical fireworks, Graham Hopkins’ Dr James Sheppard is the steady flame underneath them.

Hopkins gives the production a sense of composure.

His character observes. He narrates. He listens.

And because so much of the story depends upon what people say — and what they choose not to say — that restraint becomes incredibly important.

Hopkins and Committie also make a compelling partnership.

One is grounded and seemingly dependable.

The other is flamboyant, inquisitive and constantly analysing the people around him.

Together, they create a fascinating theatrical rhythm.

Reviews of the production have particularly highlighted the pairing, with Hopkins described as a strong co-lead whose understated performance holds its own against Committie’s more flamboyant Poirot.

And that balance is one of the reasons the show never becomes a one-man Poirot comedy.

It remains an ensemble mystery.

The set becomes another character

One of the things we particularly appreciated about the production was how much storytelling happens without dialogue.

Denis Hutchinson’s production design creates an English country-house atmosphere without allowing the scenery to overwhelm the performers. The design, combined with lighting, helps establish different locations and shifts in mood.

There is an almost delicious contradiction to the visual world.

Everything looks respectable.

Everything looks orderly.

Everything looks like the sort of place where people would sit politely, pour tea and discuss perfectly respectable matters.

And yet underneath that surface is murder.

That contrast is quintessential Christie.

The production also makes intelligent use of lighting and sound to transition between moments and locations. Reviews have noted the way isolated lighting, particularly around telephone conversations, creates a cinematic quality within the theatrical space.

It is a reminder that good theatre does not need a gigantic set to create a huge world.

Sometimes a room, a few carefully chosen objects and the right lighting are enough.

Comedy, suspense and the art of keeping a straight face

Perhaps the greatest surprise of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is just how funny it is.

This is still a murder mystery.

Someone has died.

There are secrets everywhere.

People have motives.

And yet the audience is frequently laughing.

That is partly the strength of Shanahan’s adaptation, which has been described as fast-moving and energetic, stripping away some of the verbosity associated with earlier stage treatments while retaining Christie’s central mystery.

The production never seems embarrassed by its theatricality.

It embraces the pauses.

The reactions.

The physical comedy.

The suspicious glances.

The awkward silences.

The moments where one character clearly knows more than another.

And the audience becomes part of the game.

You find yourself watching someone’s face instead of listening only to their words.

You start wondering why somebody entered the room.

Why somebody left.

Why a particular sentence was phrased that way.

Why somebody reacted just a little too quickly.

That is the genius of Christie.

She doesn’t merely ask you to watch the investigation. She recruits you into it.

And then there is the mystery…

This is where a review has to tread carefully.

Because The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of those stories where saying too much can destroy the very thing you came to experience.

So there will be no spoiler here.

What can be said is that the premise is beautifully simple.

Roger Ackroyd is murdered.

Poirot — who has apparently retired to village life — finds himself pulled back into detective work.

The investigation leads him through a maze of motives, relationships and alibis as he attempts to establish exactly what happened and who is responsible.

But the beauty of the stage production is that the question isn’t merely:

“Who killed Roger Ackroyd?”

It becomes:

“Who can you trust?”

And then, more dangerously:

“Can you trust yourself to interpret what you’re seeing?”

That is where the production becomes more than a traditional whodunnit.

A 100-year-old story that doesn’t feel old

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about seeing this play in 2026 is that it does not feel like a museum piece.

Yes, the world is recognisably influenced by Christie’s era.

Yes, the characters speak with a certain formality.

Yes, there is an elegance to the manners and social interactions.

But underneath all of that are themes that remain extremely familiar.

Secrets.

Money.

Love.

Jealousy.

Reputation.

Blackmail.

Family tension.

Ambition.

Fear.

The human desire to hide the parts of ourselves we don’t want other people to see.

Those things haven’t changed much in 100 years.

And that is why the mystery still works.

Christie understood something fundamental about storytelling:

People are fascinating when they have something to hide.

Why Montecasino was the perfect Johannesburg home for this production

There is something special about seeing theatre at Montecasino.

The Pieter Toerien theatre has long been part of Johannesburg’s entertainment landscape, and Montecasino itself describes the precinct as an entertainment destination combining theatre, dining, hotels, shopping, movies and other attractions in Fourways.

That makes The Murder of Roger Ackroyd particularly easy to turn into an entire evening rather than simply a theatre visit.

You can arrive early.

Have dinner.

Walk through Montecasino.

Take in the atmosphere.

Then disappear into a murder mystery.

And when the curtain comes down, you step back into the lights and noise of Montecasino with the case still lingering in your mind.

That was certainly part of the pleasure of our evening on 30 August.

The theatre didn’t simply give us somewhere to watch a play.

It gave the mystery room to breathe.

The verdict

Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre is clever, funny, stylish and genuinely entertaining.

It succeeds because it understands that a great Christie adaptation needs more than a famous detective and a dead body.

It needs atmosphere.

It needs suspects who feel human.

It needs actors capable of making even the smallest reaction meaningful.

It needs comedy without losing suspense.

And it needs an audience willing to play detective.

This production delivers all of that.

Alan Committie’s Poirot is the undeniable star, but he is surrounded by an ensemble that understands that the mystery only works when everybody plays their part. Graham Hopkins gives the production its narrative backbone, while Dianne Simpson, Russel Savadier, Louise Saint-Claire and the rest of the company bring colour, tension and humour to a wonderfully suspicious collection of characters.

And perhaps the greatest compliment we can give the production is this:

For two hours, we forgot we already knew how stories work.

We watched.

We listened.

We suspected.

We changed our minds.

We laughed.

And somewhere between the clues, the suspicious looks and Poirot’s relentless questioning, we became exactly what Agatha Christie wanted us to become:

detectives.

A hundred years after the novel first appeared, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd still has the power to make a theatre full of people collectively lean forward and wonder:

“Wait… what if it’s them?”

That is the magic of Agatha Christie.

And at Montecasino, it is alive and very well.

Our rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Best for: Agatha Christie fans, theatre lovers, mystery enthusiasts, date nights, and anyone who enjoys being challenged to solve a crime before the detective does.

Production: Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Adaptation: Mark Shanahan
Direction: Alan Swerdlow
Design: Denis Hutchinson
Poirot: Alan Committie
Venue: Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg
Our visit: 30 August 2026
Johannesburg run: 21 August – 27 September 2026, according to the published Johannesburg production information.

This review is based on our experience attending the Montecasino performance on 30 August 2026, with production details cross-checked against Montecasino, production information and contemporary theatre coverage. No plot spoilers have been included.

Montecasino – official What’s On Agatha Christie – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd