And then there were None

I do like to see a good box set and there was a well-constructed set, nicely decorated
and suitably furnished. Agatha Christie always draws the crowds and this show was no
exception with a full house.

No Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple here, it was up to the audience to try and guess who
the culprit was amidst all the suspicion and recriminations. There was a strong cast here
of eleven, from boatman Fred Narracott well portrayed by Terry Toyne who was not one
of the ten victims through to the final death. I always feel sorry for those who are
among the first to die as the actors don’t have time to develop the characters they are
portraying. We meet the characters as they arrive on the island and then after the first
death start to wonder who the murderer is, where is the host Mr. U N Owen? I must
admit I was a little confused having read the book, but eventually realised that gender
and names had been changed to match the profile of the cast. It was a nice touch that
the audience were given little score cards to tick off who they thought the culprit was as
the play progressed.

This was a well-directed production, as each death occurred the panic and psychological
impact on each character became more apparent, some of deaths and disappearances
became apparent on stage, some appeared offstage. Anthony Marston, the youngest
victim was well played in his short appearance by Ben Gallagher. The caretakers Thomas
Rogers and Ethel Rogers were well matched Paul Gorwood and Grace Wells who played
their ‘subservient’ roles well, Thomas having a suitable sense of worry and despair at
the loss of his wife upon being the second victim. An air of responsibility and an aura of
the military must be displayed to portray a General and Tim Bold gave this presence
before he too was dispatched. Thomas Rogers death took place off stage as we then
approached the death by injection of Emily Brent, this was a nice portrayal of a quiet
unassuming spinster by Zoe Bunter found dead in her armchair. Then we have the
interesting ‘death’ of Judge Wargrave, this was a strong and powerful performance by
Claire Rowbottom, which was matched by the performance of Dr Armstrong, Suzanne
Tuck, these two ladies gave great performances throughout. At this stage with three
suspects/victims remaining the psychological terrors and traits are emerging well
displayed in the portrayals of Wendy Blore by Joanna Warner and especially the pairing
of Philip Lombard by Graham Chapman and Vera Claythorn by Bella Knight, they
interacted well together. I did wonder how the hanging of Vera would be portrayed and
that was cleverly done with a reveal at the side of the stage as a black Tab was pulled
aside to reveal the hanging.

As I said at the beginning this was a strong cast who portrayed their characters well.
Diction was good and clear, which is important for the audience in following the story.
The stage was used to the full, a well-built set, I liked the touches of the rhyme being
displayed, the 10 little figurines, I never worked out how they were broken or
disappeared, the sound recording was well done, costuming was appropriate to the
characters and there was good use of lighting and sound.

This was a good production well enjoyed by all who like a good murder mystery with a
twist at the end, well done to director Laura.
 

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