Lymington Players' presentation of Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None kept the sell-out audience on the edge of their seats
EVEN before the curtains opened, hoarse whispering of the nursery rhyme Ten Little Soldier Boys echoed around the Malt Hall setting the scene for Lymington Players' presentation of Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None.
Two employees welcome eight guests to a mansion on desolate Soldier Island having been summoned by a Mr U N Owens who has been delayed. No one knows why they are there nor do they know their host, although they had each received the invitation for a job or from a personal friend for a holiday. All the guests have in common, unknown to each other, is a wicked past they are unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate.
Stranded on the island by a storm, the strangers are shocked and angry on hearing a crackly record reciting their names, attributing a sinister crime to each of them – a rich, spoilt young man (wearing very stylish shoes), a ruthless mercenary, a former governess, a “hanging” judge, a recovering alcoholic doctor, a guilt-ridden general, a religious straight-laced fanatic, a corrupt detective, and a greedy cook and butler. They soon become entangled in a web of secrets and suspicion as one by one they are brutally murdered, in accordance with the lines of the haunting nursery rhyme. Why and who is the assassin??
The set was a simple hotel lounge with chairs and tables with ten bowl-shaped lights hanging from the ceiling. I did not realise it at first but each time a person dies, one of the lights is extinguished.
Brilliant acting by every member of the cast, including two newcomers, who worked so well together, a thrilling script with lots of red herrings, good sound, lighting and special effects all brought together by director Edward Funnell and producer Janette Russell kept the sell-out audience on the edge of their seats throughout this gripping play – a splendid evening and I certainly didn't spot the executioner.
Alison Smith
