And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None … a play performed by Rainhill Garrick Society at Rainhill Village Hall, Dane Court, Rainhill on Friday 17th May 2024.
 
‘And then there were None’ is one of the most well known and most popular ‘whodunits’ of all time, penned by the amazing Agatha Christie in 1939 with a different title and adapted for stage in 1943.  Once again, Rainhill Garrick Society chose well and came up trumps with this performance of this prevalent stage play. The plot … revolves around 10 people invited by mysterious hosts…Mr and Mrs Owen, to an island off the south coast of England in the 1930’s. Whilst stranded by bad weather on the island, they are all reminded of the ‘murderous sins’ they have committed!  Then, one by one, in various ways they are “bumped off” as inferred by the title “And then there were none” – and the poem ‘Ten Little Soldiers’ until all are dead … well almost!  As the group becomes smaller suspicions grow, tensions heighten …. SO, WHO DUNIT?

Before the play commenced, we were advised by two society members that in 1943, Christie had changed the ending to this play… so there were now two endings… but wait, further information received suggested that RGS had created a further ending… so with the help of a young audience member who was asked to pick a number from a bag, the ending for this show was chosen from a selection of three or was it…. who knows!

Production Team… the ever so experienced David Parker (Director) was the one chosen to guide us through the murderous carnage that lay ahead and what a great job he made of it!  I think it was very obvious from the moment those curtains parted that David knew exactly what he wanted from this play and how to achieve it and with a well-chosen cast who, to a one, created some believable characters, who all worked together ever so well, that we were in for a wonderful evening’s entertainment and that proved ever so true… well done David, great job sir!

The Cast… I always find it very difficult to start saying someone was better than someone else when you can see that everyone had given their all and that was the case here that evening!  But having said that, I do think it would be remiss of me not to give a few shout outs later!  Our cast included…
‘Mr & Mrs Rogers’ (Manservant/Butler and cook) played respectively by Rob Williams & Ruth Profitt; ‘Fred Narracott’ (Boatman/Delivery Man employed by the mysterious owners) played by Tim Evans;
‘Vera Claythorne’ (Former nanny, now cagy, intelligent Secretary) played by Sophie Brogan;
‘Philip Lombard’ (Charismatic, secretive, suave Army Captain) played by Richard Parker;
‘Antonia Marston’ (Obnoxious, outspoken, someone who says it as it is) played by  Alison Mawdsley;
‘William Bore’ (Suspicious, secretive, Lair, Private Detective) played by George Lowe;
‘General Mackenzie’ (Depressed, confused elderly Military General) played by Gerald Walker;
‘Emily Brent’ (Uptight, judgemental, Bible bashing spinster) played by Elizabeth Munro;
‘Sir Lawrence Wargrave’ (Shrewd, calculating, stern, retired Judge) played by Rick Young
‘Dr Armstrong’ (Alcoholic, Doctor, Surgeon, who is tortured by guilt) played by Tom Nevitt.
This was a great cast, who worked together ever so well and always looked interested and engaged. I’m never one to sit on the fence… so, if I may, I’d like to give ‘shout outs’ to my four favourite characters… No ‘showstealer’, think that would be wrong… but I thought Sophie Brogan gave us a strong interpretation of the character ‘Vera Claythorne’. Sophie provided us with this warm refined character who worked ever so well with the entire cast. Blessed with great stage presence, she just oozed confidence and belief … be proud Sophie great job!  Rick Young gave us an outstanding performance as the retired judge ‘Sir Lawrence Wargrave’.  Confident, assured, always in control, great stage presence, great diction… never missed a single word… well done Rick, great job!
Richard Parker (Philip Lombard), was another who oozed confidence and displayed a real presence on stage, providing us with all the right attributes to make this part believable… congrats Richard, be proud!  My final choice goes to Elizebeth Munro’s portrayal of ‘Emily Brent’. Elizebeth created another totally believable character, confident, assured another perfect fit for the role. Voice, mannerisms, facial expressions added to the character … again, well done, great job!  I honestly could go on… because we had so many great characters created all of whom helped create some wonderful theatre. The only downside was, I suppose, was the prompts, one major one … these did detract a little, but not in a way that spoiled the enjoyment!      

Staging/Set/Tech … all the action took place in the living room of the house on the island on a set designed by Richard Parker. You never come to a RGS production without seeing ‘great staging and attention to detail’ and Richard should be congratulated on this wonderful piece of staging which not only allowed the cast to create/develop the diverse characters that we were introduced to, but also providing the space for those characters to navigate the many twists and turns brought to the fore in this play. In charge of all things backstage was Rosetta Parker (Stage Manager). Sound … we had some wonderful, realistic sound effects that added to the atmosphere and the suspense provided by Lynn Aconley with some subtle lighting created by Graham Swift.  Talking about attention to detail… I didn’t notice, until the play had been running for some time, the ten little soldiers on the mantelpiece which were expertly dispatched by a cast member, one by one throughout the show … the first few, I had no idea when that they’d been removed… congrats to everybody concerned!

RSG had, as always, chosen a charity to support during this production… on this occasion it was the Alzheimer’s Society for which they raised in excess of £200.00 the night I attended.  Richard Parker ‘Set Designer’ and a rather suave and charismatic Army Captain from the production, was also accepting a challenge with his ‘work colleagues’ in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society to complete the ‘Yorkshire Three Peaks’ in under twelve hours… something that I had done back in 1969 when I was younger and far fitter than I am to today… but we actually ran the ‘three peaks’ … gosh I was fit in those days ahahahahah!  All the luck in the World Richard to you and your colleagues… there is a fundraising/donations page if you feel you want to support this cause! Richard attempts the challenge on the 8th June 2024.

Thank you so much RGS for inviting my wife and I, we thoroughly enjoyed the production and look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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