“Ten Little Soldier Boys went out to dine, one choked his little self and then there were nine…”
THERE is nothing quite like a murder mystery, especially when the nights are drawing in and mischief is in the air.
Arguably one of Agatha Christie’s most famous ‘whodunnits’, And Then There Were None has been brought to life on the stage of Wokingham Theatre at the perfect time of year.
Shaping the crime thriller genre for generations to come, the Mistress of Mystery plotted the perfect ingredients needed to keep an audience on its toes – one deserted island, a generous helping of shady characters, and a heap of grisly murders, each one tied together by a chilling children’s rhyme, Ten Little Soldier Boys.
Set on the fictional Soldier Island off the coast of Devon, 10 complete strangers are brought together by the mysterious Mr and Mrs Owen: a couple none of the guests has actually met, but who seem to know plenty about their visitors’ pasts.
A ghoulish recording exposes the crimes each one is alleged to have been responsible for, and one by one they start to fall, just like the tin soldiers on the mantlepiece…
Creating tension in theatre can often go terribly wrong, but director Nigel Lawson Dick has worked his magic on this performance, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats by clever uses of music, lighting and props.
The cast has been chosen perfectly, each one almost born to play their role. Special mention must go to Margery Jackson, who plays the rigid Emily Brent, with her clipped diction and impeccable dress the very essence of the fading 1930s upper class.
Rebecca Wire is every inch the charming secretary Vera Claythorne, a new breed of feisty female who cannot possibly be the murderer ‘because she is a woman’… Or could she?
The stand-out performance of the evening had to be Simon Vail as the (dis)honourable judge Sir William Wargrave. His confident stride and command of the stage, and indeed the other characters, made his character extremely believable to the point that you trust every word that comes out of his mouth. But be warned, all is not what it seems, could the judge have a nasty streak?
A tremendous effort indeed by the entire cast and production crew, a performance that was thoroughly enjoyed by the packed-out audience, and judging by the comments in the bar at the interval – ‘I jumped right out of my seat!’ – it was a job well done.
And Then There Were None runs until Saturday, October 31. For tickets call 0118 978 5363 or visit crm.wokingham-theatre.org.uk.
