In terms of individual performances, Sophie Walter as Vera Claythorne was exceptional. Here we had that notion of ‘weighing up the evidence’ literalised on stage - there was a lack of balance which naturally destabilised the characters as they walked around, exacerbating And Then There Were None’s concern with justice and balancing out right and wrong. Other elements of the staging also tied into this legal theme.Ī large section of the stage sloped, effectively creating a ramp which the characters climbed (and slipped) up and down. In a play all about judgement and the law, these tableaux struck me as an opportunity for the audience to exercise their own judgement of each character unapologetically. The dinner scene in the first act created a similar moment, with the actors going into slow motion behind the sheer curtain. It began with a tableau of all of the characters who were spotlighted one-by-one as their invitation to Soldier Island was revealed. This sense of involvement and scrutiny for the audience was obvious at the start of the play. Here, past and present events were placed in near proximity, only separated by a thin piece of fabric this cleverly suggested to the audience just how closely past events were coming to bear on the present action. Often, it was behind this curtain that the memories of characters like Emily Brent and General Mackenzie were acted out. While this stood as a reminder of the often unclear and mysterious memories that haunt the ten people on Soldier Island, it principally allowed the audience to become agents in the action, as we became detectives ourselves when attempting to decode what was going on slightly out of sight. Not only did the movement of this curtain mimic the rolling waves of the sea - the island setting in the story is, of course, of the utmost significance - but the haziness of what was happening behind the curtain added a sense of intrigue. Throughout the play, a sheer curtain effectively split the stage in two, forcing the action to predominantly occur at the very front of the playing space. Just as the plot itself moves between background and foreground, set designer Mike Britton’s fascinating layout physically indicated this split focus. When we looked back at some of the characters’ memories, soft, warm, yellow hues illuminated the stage - in moments of violence, though, the space was plunged into icy blue light.ĭuring the scene in the second act when the final four really do begin to lose their minds (references to animals and unchecked desire made this feel Lord of the Flies-esque), spectacular flashes of red light lit up the stage, emphasising the thrilling, reckless behaviour of those left on Soldier Island. Given how the story is set up, we are constantly shifted between the present moment and the past lives of these 10 characters Chris Davey’s lighting design signalled this movement clearly. What unravels next is a murder mystery plot that seems to defy logic - but, as always, Christie has the perfect solution. Owen (can you already spot how clever Christie is?), mayhem ensues when an announcement is played out over a gramophone accusing each person of committing heinous crimes. There is no doubt that this was the best way to spend my Halloween evening: above all, I’m so surprised that we haven’t seen a large-scale theatre production of And Then There Were None before, because the plot is simply steeped in melodrama.Īs 10 strangers are invited to Soldier Island by the mysterious Mr and Mrs U. So when I heard that Lucy Bailey - who, aside from her work on Witness, directed perhaps the most impressive take on Titus Andronicus at The Globe in 2014 - was behind this new theatrical adaptation of And Then There Were None, I was very excited. Since then, Kenneth Branagh’s take on Poirot has divided critics, something particularly illustrated by his new film A Haunting of Venice, which is not an original Poirot story. The transformation of her short story Witness for the Prosecution into a play in 2017 has been immensely successful.ĭirected by Lucy Bailey, and staged at the stunning County Hall, London, Witness is an incredible example of how flexible Christie’s writing is - a short story of roughly 15 pages long thrives as a two hour play in such an iconic setting.Ĭhristie’s work was predominantly catapulted back into mainstream culture via Sarah Phelps’ television adaptations which began in 2015. Despite the novel’s undeniable theatricality, we haven’t seen a large scale stage adaptation of And Then There Were None before - until now.Ĭhristie’s work has never really gone out of fashion, although in recent years her stories have had a somewhat noticeable revival.
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