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Disclaimer:
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Reviews And Then There Were None Directed by Ellen Hanaver Reviewed by Chris Hancock Entire contents are copyright © 2009 Chris Hancock. All rights reserved.
Agatha Christie is one of the greatest murder/mystery writers in the history of literature. It's the way she weaves the characters so carefully through the plot and is always one step ahead of all of us. Once we think we know who did it, Christie outsmarts us yet again. Of course, in a book, you can conceal things from an audience, but on stage, it's a little different. Christie adapted the novel Ten Little Indians into the play as we know it now, And Then There Were None. As Christie discovered while writing the play, it's much harder to conceal clues from the audience when they are seeing it happen and not reading it. But Hayswood Theatre's production of this piece kept me guessing until the very end, keeping true to Agatha Christie and always staying one step ahead of us. Christie changed a few details of the book while adapting it into a stage play, such as, the character General McArthur in the book becoming General McKenzie in the play and other minutiae to make the story more appropriate for the stage. The story centers around ten people, who previously committed murder but escaped due to technicalities, who are tricked into coming onto an "Soldier Island". There are the caretakers Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, played by the super funny David DeSpain and Patty McClure; the troubled ex-police officer William Blore, played by the wonderful Ian Ellis, the snide, heavily devout Emily Brent, played by deliciously by Elizabeth Swarens; the uptight nerve doctor Edwina Armstrong, played by Kathy Norton; the war torn veteran General McKenzie, played by Lance Ponder; the foppish, arrogant Anthony Marston, played by Jonathan Driver; the beautiful, young secretary Vera Claythorne, played by Shelley Hanaver-Torrez; the domineering Philip Lombard, played by Mark Northup; and the retired judge Sir Lawrence Wargrave, played exceptionally by Charles Swarens. Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered in the manner of the nursery rhyme that hangs above the fire place, one by one.
Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;
Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;
Five little Soldier boys going in for law;
Four little Soldier boys going out to sea;
Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo;
Two Little Soldier boys sitting in the sun;
One little Soldier boy left all alone; Christie, of course, gives the audience all of the clues but you never seem to outsmart Ms. Christie. It's a good thing too. There were parts of tonight's [September 25] production where I found myself inching in my seat, wanting to know what was going to happen. That's the brilliance of Agatha Christie, especially this piece. The entire play is laid out and we know what will happen at the end and yet we are shocked at every turn. The technical aspects of Hayswood's production may not have been as exceptional as the piece itself but "you work with what you've got" and they definitely did. And even the acting sometimes took me out of the moment but story and the actors' energy quickly drew me closer. The show got started off to a rocky start but by the end, the audience gave them a standing ovation. And Then There Were None is a very hard piece to stage just like every other murder/mystery/whodunnit and I commend the director, Ellen Hanaver, for executing the style very well. With this type of genre, even the most talented actors can spoil the show if they make one wrong move and I could tell that this was crafted with very particular care. I definitely recommend this show to all Agatha Christie fans and even more so to people who are not familiar with her work because once you leave the theatre you will want to read every book by this amazing writer. It's nothing but pure, exciting entertainment in Hayswood Theatre's production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
And Then There Were None
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