Even before the play begins, the perfect atmophere for Agatha Christie’s murder mystery masterpiece, And Then There Were None, is set by the sound of waves crashing and eerie music that fills the newly refurbished auditorium of the Assembly Hall Theatre.
The curtain opens on a superb Art Deco style set, dominated by a huge circular window, which is the home of our hosts, Mr and Mrs Owens. In quick succession, the guests arrive – and they are the usual mix of millionaires and aristocrats that so often signify a Christie mystery.
The guests are greeted by the housekeeper Rogers (Mark Curry) and his wife, the cook, played by Judith Rae, who waste no time in making it quite clear what they think of their new housemates. Whether it is the very Victorian Emily Brent (Deborah Grant) or young “Whizz Kid” Anthony Marston, played by Tom McCarron, their characters are assassinated long before the murders begin – and very quickly they begin!
Before they do, the rest of the guests arrive, including the superb Colin Buchanan who plays General William Blore and, the star of the show, Paul Nicholas as Sir Lawrence Wargrave who dominates the stage with his presence and fills the auditorium with his fantastically deep and mellow voice.
The huge poster of a rhyme on the wall tells the story of the Ten Little Soldiers who, one by one, get killed off and, as if it were some evil premonition, the bodies of those killed in the same way as the soldiers start piling up.
As with all murder mysteries, it would be unfair to reveal the ending but the great thing with this play is that there are only 10 people on the island and, with a title that tells you that, in the end there are none, it is only the very best detectives in the audience who manage to work out “whodunnit”.
There is no doubt that Christie was a master of her craft, that her stories hold the audience from start to finish and that, in the hands of the superb Agatha Christie Theatre Company and Bill Kenwright, her plays will be loved for many years to come.
**** Four Stars