Much of the enjoyment of witnessing a traditional murder mystery is for audiences to figure out "whodunnit", and the current production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None by the Millbrook Community Players, Inc. keeps them guessing for almost two and a half hours.
Christie's novel set the standard for the genre, and she penned the stage version in 1943, but Millbrook director Kaden Blackburn has chosen a 2005 update by Kevin Elyot that keeps the essences of the original, but changes the "Ten Little Indians" poem references to "Ten Little Soldiers". The rest has largely been retained.
For the uninitiated: a number of people who are strangers to one another arrive at an isolated island off the coast of England in response to an invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Owen to spend the weekend there. Husband and wife servants inform the guests that their hosts have been delayed but that all is in order for their visit. -- Once all the guests have arrived, a recorded message accuses each one in turn of heinous crimes with threats of retribution. And we watch as they are murdered mysteriously, one by one.
With no one else on the island, and no way to leave, each one is a suspect. The culprit is narrowed down with each death, and most of them either admit to their wrongdoings or express some kind of guilt.
How it turns out won't be revealed here...go see it and try to figure it out yourself.
The ensemble actors comprise Millbrook stalwarts and some newcomers [Matthew Givens, Michon Givens, Maggie Kervin, Aiye Kioni, Mark McGuire, Gage Parr, Dana Smith, Laura Smith, Michael Snead, Rodney Winter] each one holding his or her own in the group with individual character embellishments.
Mr. Blackburn maintains the suspense throughout, though some varied pacing might create a more credible tension. And reining-in much of some of the actors' shouting would improve the clarity of their dialogue.
The craft of Christie's plot and the talents of Millbrook's able cast are good reasons to see this version of And Then There Were None.
