Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, the best-selling crime novel of all time, brings an air of mystery to Metro Theatre until March 22nd. Adapted for the stage by Christie herself, the production sticks closely to the original source but the author delivers a slightly different but no less thrilling ending than the novel.
Set in a large country house on the isolated Soldier Island off the Devon coast in 1930s England And Then There Were None opens with household staff, Mr & Mrs Rogers (played by Roger Monk and Emma Greenhalgh) preparing for a weekend house party. As guests of the never-seen Mr & Mrs Owen arrive by boat from the mainland, filtering into the house are a diverse collection of people who have no prior acquaintance. The first boat brings Mrs Owen’s Secretary Vera Claythorne (Adrian Shaffer) and Philip Lombard (Connor Hawkins), an adventurer and former military officer in the Boer War, who has eyes on Vera. The second boat brings, the young, heavy-footed auto enthusiast Anthony Marston (Atticus Cohen-Yelle), a mysterious Mr. Davis (Daryl Hutchings), the elderly General MacKenzie (Simon Ruddell), the pious and opinionated Emily Brent (Rosemary Schuster), Judge Sir Lawrence Redgrave (Peter Robbins) and the nervous Dr Armstrong (Robson Baker). Once boatsman Narracott (Christopher Burkholder) departs the islanders are cut off from any civilization, no telephone, no roads, only an oil powered generator for power.
As the house party continues, the guests soon realize no one knows their hosts, nor does it seem that the Owen’s will be arriving any time soon. However, one by one the guests start departing the mortal realm in tune with the Ten Little Soldiers nursery rhyme posted on the wall. Can the remaining guests figure out whodunit in time?
Directed by Don Briard, who also helmed 2023’s The Mousetrap at Metro, this production of And Then There Were None brings another classic murder mystery to the stage. Even with it being the most well-known of Christie’s mysteries, the cast keeps us on edge wondering who will be first to go and how the untimely deaths to come fit in with the nursery rhyme. A couple of wandering accents, intentional and unintentional, and stumbles over dialogue were initially distracting but soon we are absorbed in the mystery. Building tension from the characters’ class, culture and generation gaps, the stand-out lead cast members; Shaffer, Hawkins, Hutchings and Robbins, find a nice balance maintaining the mystery while allowing for some laughter at the light over-the-top moments.
Despite it being an 80 year-old period piece it still feels fresh and current, a testament to Briard’s handling and the source work’s lasting popularity. Upon entering the theatre, audience members could be heard commenting on the set’s familiar and functional furnishings by award-winning Set Designer Glenn MacDonald, who lends his talents to create the comfortable country house set. Playing an equally important role in creating the atmosphere of the play, Keith S Woods’ lighting design takes us from day to night, sun and storm and power outages.
The grand dame of Country House murder mysteries still holds audiences enraptured through its many adaptations and performances, and Metro Theatre’s production of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is another one. Don’t miss out on finding out whodunit, on stage at Metro Theatre, 1370 Marine Drive SW, until March 22nd, visit metrotheatre.com to find show details and get tickets now.