Review: Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal
A brilliantly bamboozling, at times shocking, and altogether entertaining version of a Christie classic has been brought to life on stage.
Running at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal until Saturday, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None delivers gruesome murder, a web of lies and deceit, and captivating twists and turns.
While it’s no secret that Christie’s mysteries are brilliantly written, it is Lucy Bailey’s expert direction which brings the action to life on this stage in a captivating mix of stilted formality and increasing hysteria and madness, all set to the backdrop of a macabre nursery rhyme Ten Little Soldiers.
As the stage and actors fall into further disarray, tension builds and attention is turned solely to the important question of “whodunit” — but just when all seems clear and suspicion is hung on one little soldier boy what audiences may have thought they knew all comes crashing down.
Sophie Walter is stand-out as Vera Claythorne, secretary to the wealthy yet elusive hosts of a rendezvous on an isolated Devon island, and conducts herself with both an air of innocence and a sharp mind and tongue which lends her both to suspicion and acquittal. Her increasing panic is clear through her loss of composure, brash movements and restlessness on the stage as the play progresses.
Katie Stevens initially delivers a performance so perfectly eye-roll inducing as the overly prim and proper Emily Brent, before delving into a harrowing tale of Emily’s guilty mind, and Jeffery Kissoon is haunting as tortured General Mackenzie.
Although short-lived, Oliver Clayton lends some light humour to proceedings as Anthony Marston, and Joseph Beattie keeps the audience on their toes as Philip Lombard, who attracts both admiration and suspicion.
Bob Barrett, of Holby City fame, stars as Doctor Armstrong and is convincing in his performance as a respectable doctor with a shadier past than he would like to admit.
The twisted tale is contrasted with the serene backdrop of ocean waves and breezy curtains — by set designer Mike Britton — in a luxurious yet cold home which offers no respite from the horrors of the island party.
As the truth of the ten soldier’s bad deeds are exposed, and they face the supposed consequences of their actions, it raises questions of justice and human vices. What right has the murderer to be judge, jury and executioner?
Even 85 years down the line from its original publication Christie’s story still captures the imagination of the audience, earning thunderous applause.
