|
|
|
|
|
Dying to meet the host
And Then There Were None
Malvern Theatres
**** AS one of Agatha Christie's great
who-dun-its, this chilling murder mystery was given the respect it
deserved with a fantastic stage setting and strong cast. Produced by The Agatha Christie Theatre Company,
it stays very true to the novel where a motley crew of strangers are
duped into spending time on a remote island only to find that not only
are they cut off but the mystery person behind the invitations wants to
kill them. One by one, we find out everyone's secrets and
it's a slick affair as we quickly realise that all of them have blood on
their hands and the murderer is trying to atone for this and js among
them. Bringing the story to life is a sumptuous set of
art deco furnishings, wood panelling walls and a grand terrace that
makes you feel you can almost smell the sea. You can definitely hear the
seagulls. The cast features more TV celebs of yesteryear
than a panto and among the roll call are Colin Buchanan, of Dalziel and
Pascoe fame, Just Good Friends' Paul Nicholas, Susan Penhaligon, Mark
Curry and Ben Nealon from Soldier, Soldier. Reuniting after working together on Emmerdale is
also Frazer Hines and Verity Rushworth, who shines in a range of 1930’s
outfits as one of the key suspects. There's plenty of red herrings, everyone looks
suspicious and the play moves along swiftly over three acts. The two
brief intervals actually help to keep the excitement building and the
scenes seem to fly by. And Then There Were None is the 12th production
by this company, run by Bill Kenwright, which toured with Black Coffee
last year. I'd say this is a much richer production than
Black Coffee and, as touring murder mysteries go, it's one of the best
I've seen. To 21-03-15 Alison Brinkworth
16-03-15
|
|
|
|
