This is a bold new staging of And Then There Were None by Director Lucy Bailey and Designer Mike Britton, which allows Lighting Designer Chris Davey a fine range of atmospheric states, passing of time and the huge imagined landscape.
The cast of And Then There Were None | Photo © Manuel Harlan
Visually this is excellent. The open stage divided by gauze allows a cinematic effect without the need for scene changes and troublesome blackouts.
The action unfolds with ease and the sense of scale remains throughout.
Peppered with physical theatre and effective tableaux, the suspense is kept in check as the various characters meet their end.
There is much to think about as the story unfolds and as the confusion resolves itself, the guests settle into the weekend home where the hosts are not attending.
Accusations abound and the dark past of each of the hugely unpleasant house guests unravel and keep the audience guessing until the final moments.
Whilst the delivery is sometimes shrill and brittle, the cast are true to their characters. They have little redeeming features but somehow all consider themselves absolved of the various stories that haunt them.
Sophie Walter as Vera Claythone is pivotal to the plot. A “modern” woman happy to show her shoulders and beauty much to the disdain of Katy Stephens who plays Emily Brent.
There is as expected in any Agatha Christie a hidden detective, a “Lad” and retired troubled professionals.
But the play unfurls well and Act 2 allows further development and demise into the madness of the isolated building and the trapped guests.
It plays at Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday and tours.
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Reviewer: Petra Schofield
