By Agatha Christie
4 – 13 July 2024
Ten strangers are summoned to a remote island. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder.
As they wait for their unknown host to arrive, the weather turns and the group is cut off from the mainland. The only record on the island is a piece of jazzy dance music which suddenly transforms itself into a sinister series of accusations of murder against each of the guests and the two servants.
Soon the bloodbath begins and one by one they are brutally murdered in accordance with the lines of a sinister nursery rhyme. As the dwindling survivors frantically try to uncover the murderer before they are killed, they start to look at each other in horror – is the killer one of them?
Cast
Mr Rogers | Ian Caldecourt
Mrs Rogers | Philippa Lucas
Fred Narracott | Dillon Patel
Vera Claythorne | Laura Mackie
Anthony Marston | Alex Campbell
Philip Lombard | Jamie Heath
William Blore | Jay Rolfe
General MacKenzie | Keith Orton
Emily Brent | Ann Lovell
Sir Lawrence Wargrave | Michael Cooke
Dr Armstrong | Chris Hannigan
Directed by Niall Monaghan
Photography by Chris Fenton
Review | July 2024 | Theo Spring
A full house greeted the curtain rise on the night I attended, a certain acknowledgement that Agatha Christie’s famous play still holds its attraction for audiences ‘ and they were not disappointed.
With the title of the play being a bit of a giveaway, ten characters are invited, by letter to be guests, the secretary, the housekeeper or the butler, to the house on Soldier Island in Devon. The must arrive by boat as the only means of getting there and are brought to the island in Fred Narracott’s boat, with Dillon Patel making a brief appearance but providing an excellent Devon accent. They do not know each other, with the exception of the two staff members, who are husband and wife. Why they are there ‘ what they have done and what happens to them, one by one, is slowly revealed throughout the play, and it is for the audience to guess who is responsible for them meeting their deaths in various ways, and it is by no means an easy solve.
Set in the living room of the house, Katie McMullen created elegance and an aura of 1939 when it takes place. An impressive portrait takes centre stage on the chimney breast, flanked either side by lovely lamps. Carefully thought out, it is easy to imagine the rest of the house and is a credit to McMullen’s imagination and design.
In these times when it is often tricky to persuade men to tread the amateur boards, it is a credit to both Director Niall Monaghan and the playwright that eight excellent men were cast. Some lasted well into the play, and some, sadly, made an early exit. Mr and Mrs Rogers have been engaged, by letter of course, as the butler and housekeeper and here Ian Caldecourt and Philippa Lucas brought realism to their jobs, initially lulling the audience into believing they had worked at the house for some time. Buttling to the manor born, Ian Caldecourt kept calm in the face of his wife’s complaints whilst she protested at the demands of creating a three-course dinner in a kitchen with too many new gadgets.
Early arrivals on the island were Philip Lombard and Vera Clathorne with Jamie Heath’s Lombard being the joker for the evening and Laura Mackie trying to keep order as required by her secretarial status. A good blend of attraction and dislike was provided by these two with a special commendation for Laura Mackie’s angst and her own spectacular finale.
Bombastic and an obvious liar from the start, Jay Rolfe took William Blore through vicissitudes of cockiness to significant concern and his character stayed the course for a considerable time. It was Keith Orton’s General MacKenzie who crumbled under the pressure of the deaths happening around him, delivering a character believably full of fear and finally going a little mad. Having a doctor amongst the guest may initially have brought a feeling of security to the group, with Chris Hannigan as Dr Armstrong seemingly well able to keep his best bedside manner of calming people down before succumbing to fearfulness himself.
Rather early on in Act I, Anthony Marston played by Alex Campbell, was the first to die. A gentle soul, he just had time to make his acting mark on the proceedings.
Contrasting with Marston, the prominent lawyer Sir Lawrence Wargrave strode purposefully into the group. Played strongly by Michael Cooke, Wargrave demanded, ordered and cajoled his fellow guests. Also firm, in her opinions anyway, Emily Brent brought her knitting to keep her busy with Ann Lovell giving the character an air of lack of concern that anything could happen to her.
The cast had worked hard at sustaining an aura of suspense which deepened as the play progressed and the reveal and the ending were so well delivered.
The music threaded through the production enhanced the mood to a considerable degree as did the lighting plot by Martin Swain. The large and industrious backstage crew deserve high praise for the way the set was built and painted, with wardrobe by Berry Butler and Nigel Kemp playing an important part. However, of course, the major accolade goes to Director Niall Monaghan who, undaunted, brought this well-known play to the Miller, delivering a great show which was justifiably loudly applauded.