Dying to meet the host

cast of And then there were none

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 

 

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