Appointment With Death

Sevenoaks Players mark their return to the stage in their centenary year with this classic piece of detective fiction from Agatha Christie reflecting her travel experience in the Middle East. Those familiar with the book will find that this stage adaption has cut the famous Belgian Sleuth and has a different ending.

The group of travellers arrive at the King Solomon Hotel and are met by the Hotel Clerk (Rob Tizzard). The unfolding story intertwines numerous characters each with their own story to tell but the primary focus is on Mrs. Boynton (superbly characterised by Anna Wood), the tyrannical mother of a dysfunctional American family. The eldest son Lennox (James Bruce) is a shell of a man, and his wife Nadine (Georgina Lithco) unable to change what she can see happening, is drawn to Jefferson Cope (Harry J. Galvin) who can offer her an escape. The younger son, Raymond (Callum McFarland) is a nervy person but meets Dr.Sarah King (Amy Shrimplin). Completing the family is Ginerva (Karen Stewart) who has many psychological disorders but is helped by French Dr.Therese Gerard (Kathy Gelbart). The British characters include the force to be reckoned with Lady Westholme (Tracy Weaver) and her prim and proper travelling companion Miss Amabel Pryce (Lorraine Slipper) and the ever-confrontational northerner, Alderman Higgs (Alan Round) who provided much comedic relief when he clashes with Her Ladyship.

The delights of Petra await with the guidance of The Dragoman (Steve Armstrong) who likes nothing better than outsmarting the British. It’s not long before Mrs. Boynton meets said ‘Appointment’ and it takes the arrival of Colonel Carbery (Harry J. Galvin) to unravel ‘whodunnit’.

The Ship Theatre lends itself to smaller productions as the stage is ‘in the round’ and although this probably makes life more difficult this was well managed with cleverly constructed simple sets, which gave the sense of the hotel lobby and then Petra. The only difficulty I encountered with seating in the round was that dialogue was lost to some extent when characters turned their back and talked away from one side of the audience. Costumes were, overall, in period as were hairstyles. Lighting was adequate and as there were no curtains there were blackouts between scenes and acts. 

Darren Higgins, on his debut as director, surely had a baptism by fire with cast changes at the last minute through illness and the bar door being locked for the first interval! He can be really proud of his cast as they all stepped up to the mark and gave strong performances

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.