Last night, the best-selling crime novel of all time was brought to life in chilling fashion on the Lyceum Theatre stage.
And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie’s famous 1939 tale of suspicion and murder, follows eight strangers who arrive by invitation to a luxury hotel on the remote Soldier’s Island. The group are met by the butler and housekeeper, who inform them that their hosts won’t be joining until the following morning. As an impending storm approaches, the troubling backgrounds of the guests come to light, leading them to suspect a more sinister motive behind their gathering on the island.
Mike Britton’s inventive set does well to set the scene for the narrative. Billowing drapes and gleaming chandeliers frame the initial scenes of conviviality amongst the guests, but as the bodies pile up, the setting swiftly degrades into a chaotic and claustrophobic space.
Lucy Bailey’s direction offers much to admire as well. The pacing remains consistently steady, building tension effectively at the right moments and ensuring emotional outbursts have the desired explosive impact. Additionally, the use of expository characters appearing behind veils at crucial junctures adds a cooling layer of eeriness to the production.
The ensemble cast were on top form. David Yelland is commanding as Judge Wargrave, giving off the right mixture of trustworthy gravitas and grave seriousness. Bob Barrett is the very picture of unstable anxiety as Doctor Armstrong and Joseph Beattie enjoys significant stage presence as the brash, abrasive Captain Lombard.
Elsewhere, Andrew Lancel provides some small drips of comic relief as the boorish detective, William Blore, while understudy Louise McNulty is positively haggish in playing the judgemental prude Emily Brent.
However, the standout performance goes to Sophie Walter for her increasingly troubled portrayal of Vera Claythorne, a character who seems more unsettled than anyone by the skeletons rattling around her closet. Her fall from grace is particularly riveting to watch, culminating in an affecting final scene which confirms whether this production has gone for the novel’s original dark ending or the slightly more hopeful version Christie was asked to pen for the stage version.
I’ll let you find out for yourselves which one it is.
4/5
Running at Lyceum Theatre until Sat 11 Nov. Tickets here.
