Ten people find themselves stranded in the lonely house on Soldier Island when their supposed host send word that they have been detained. A mysterious voice, afterwards discovered to come from a gramophone record, indicts each one of them - the eight guests and the two servants - of murder. It transpires that no-one has met their hosts and that they have evidently been decoyed to the island. First one and then another dies; each death according to the rhyme of "Ten Little Soldier Boys", and with each death one of the little china figurines on the mantelpiece is found broken. The tension grows as the soldier boys disappear one by one. Who will be the last little soldier boy, who is the killer?
The Cast
Rogers - Ian Anderson
Narracot - Daniel Wagg
Mrs Rogers - Susan Power
Vera Claythorne - Megan Abbott
Captain Lombard - Matthew Austin
Anthony Marston - Matthew Kerslake
William Blore - David Wagg
General Mackenzie - Chip Carpenter
Emily Brent - Elaine Johnson
Sir Lawrence Wargrave - Richard Abel
Dr Armstrong - Peter Fiddling
The Crew
Director - Debbie Hiles
Producer - Barry Ayres
Props - Kate Carpenter, Barbara Curtis and Simon Carpenter
Set Design and Construction - Claire Cooper, Richard Bennett, Chris Scott, Seamus Power, Barry Ayres,
Ian Anderson, Matt Kerslake, Matt Austin and Jack Kent
Sounds, Lighting and Photography - Barry Ayres
Programme - Kevin Moore
Box Office and Front of House - Cyril Pike, Kate and Chip Carpenter
Rogers - Ian Anderson
Narracot - Daniel Wagg
Mrs Rogers - Susan Power
Vera Claythorne - Megan Abbott
Captain Lombard - Matthew Austin
Anthony Marston - Matthew Kerslake
William Blore - David Wagg
General Mackenzie - Chip Carpenter
Emily Brent - Elaine Johnson
Sir Lawrence Wargrave - Richard Abel
Dr Armstrong - Peter Fiddling
The Crew
Director - Debbie Hiles
Producer - Barry Ayres
Props - Kate Carpenter, Barbara Curtis and Simon Carpenter
Set Design and Construction - Claire Cooper, Richard Bennett, Chris Scott, Seamus Power, Barry Ayres,
Ian Anderson, Matt Kerslake, Matt Austin and Jack Kent
Sounds, Lighting and Photography - Barry Ayres
Programme - Kevin Moore
Box Office and Front of House - Cyril Pike, Kate and Chip Carpenter
Lynn News Review
THE prolific and marvellous Dame Agatha Christie is one of my all-time favourite authors and I love watching plays and films of her work. So it was with some delight I accepted an invitation to Watlington Village Hall to see Watlington Players perform a classic whodunnit from her wide-ranging stable - And Then There Were None. The plot concerns ten people who, unknown to each other, have all been invited to an island. One by one, the unfortunate guests are “bumped orf”, leaving fewer and fewer murder suspects as suspicions grow ever stronger. The script and suspense generated mean that any production really has a head start though, clearly, some are better than others. With Christie, I am a traditionalist and like to see proper dress for the period and a nice set.
With this, Watlington definitely scored, though, if I’m nit-picking, I would have liked to have seen a little more set dressing. Each actor arrived on stage in character straight away, giving ten very different performances as the author would have wished. As the policeman William Blore, David Wagg had to initially pretend to be someone else, and his South African accent for this ruse was commendable. I also particularly liked Elaine Johnson’s Emily Brent, whose views seemed to be slightly out of step with those of the
other characters. As ever, Megan Abbott as Vera Claythorne had good projection, and worked particularly well with Matthew Austin’s Captain Lombard. Chip Carpenter as General Mackenzie also did well with his emotional speech, and Richard Abel, as ever, lived up to his name, but, in essence, the show was very well cast, with everyone pulling together to bring this superb play to its ultimate conclusion.
A mention must also go to first-time director Debbie Hiles, who kept the action moving along. And I particularly liked the sound and lighting effects - I was well impressed the noise of the storm went up and down in the correct places when the patio doors were opened and closed - so well done Barry Ayres. The programme was also superb and very professional. I particularly liked the shots
of the launch party - and that’s the key to the success of a show like this - that everyone is working together and having fun. According to the online encyclopedia wikipedia, And Then There Were None (a change from its original title) is Christie’s best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world’s best-selling mystery ever. With the help of performances like this, the play will run and run.
Sarah Lucas
November 2011
With this, Watlington definitely scored, though, if I’m nit-picking, I would have liked to have seen a little more set dressing. Each actor arrived on stage in character straight away, giving ten very different performances as the author would have wished. As the policeman William Blore, David Wagg had to initially pretend to be someone else, and his South African accent for this ruse was commendable. I also particularly liked Elaine Johnson’s Emily Brent, whose views seemed to be slightly out of step with those of the
other characters. As ever, Megan Abbott as Vera Claythorne had good projection, and worked particularly well with Matthew Austin’s Captain Lombard. Chip Carpenter as General Mackenzie also did well with his emotional speech, and Richard Abel, as ever, lived up to his name, but, in essence, the show was very well cast, with everyone pulling together to bring this superb play to its ultimate conclusion.
A mention must also go to first-time director Debbie Hiles, who kept the action moving along. And I particularly liked the sound and lighting effects - I was well impressed the noise of the storm went up and down in the correct places when the patio doors were opened and closed - so well done Barry Ayres. The programme was also superb and very professional. I particularly liked the shots
of the launch party - and that’s the key to the success of a show like this - that everyone is working together and having fun. According to the online encyclopedia wikipedia, And Then There Were None (a change from its original title) is Christie’s best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world’s best-selling mystery ever. With the help of performances like this, the play will run and run.
Sarah Lucas
November 2011