And then there were none??
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Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
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URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4083
Printed Date: 11/25/24 at 3:56am
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Topic: And then there were none??
Posted By: nahtod1
Subject: And then there were none??
Date Posted: 6/18/09 at 1:51pm
| Has anyone mounted this show? WHat are the pros and cons? Anymore suggestions for murder mystery? |
Replies:
Posted By: greenphoenix
Date Posted: 6/18/09 at 7:48pm
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"And Then There Were None" a.k.a. "Ten Little Indians" is so much fun. I first did it in high school playing the male lead. It launched my interest in theatre. A few years ago, I directed it as well. It has a lot of wry comedy, as well as an engrossing mystery premise. It's hard to go go wrong with this, or Agatha Christie in general. If there is a "con", it would be finding 11 good actors who can also do British dialects. If a high school group can pull it off, you should be able to handle it too. |
Posted By: Spectrum
Date Posted: 6/19/09 at 1:04am
Being a "techie," I have fond memories of this show, too. We did it in a very small, intimate theatre (72 seats!), and getting the statuettes to "disappear" in front of such a close audience became a challenge. Instead of having an actor grab one in a blackout, or having a panel behind the mantle slide open so a stage hand could grab one, I built a mantle with eight little trap doors remotely operated via padded solenoids (remember, two statuettes remain on the mantle to the end) and a padded cell below each door, inside the mantle for each statuette to fall into. The audience could not see the top of the mantle so the trap doors worked perfectly. They were absolutely silent and it became a fun thing for the audiences, as well. Using misdirection or when something was happening on the other side of the stage, in full stage illumination, I would release a trap door and drop a statuette into the cell below, out of sight (one at a time, from alternating ends until only the two at the end were standing in the center of the mantle). The audiences would, en masse, witness a murder and immediately turn their heads back to the mantle to see another statuette had already disappeared. One couple came back the next night and while he watched the play, she stared at the mantle to see how they disappeared. She finally saw it happen and immediately whispered her discovery to her partner. This show was so much fun for me because of the audiences amazed, and varied responses to those magically disappearing statuettes. It didn't hurt that the acting was top notch as well.
 ------------- Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional. |
Posted By: Tallsor
Date Posted: 6/19/09 at 11:45am
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I was an actor in it in college. I played "Mr. Rogers" (yes, I'm a girl), and my fiance at the time (husband that same year) played Mrs. Rodgers.
If I had to say there was a con, it's that the play version ends significantly different from the book. (I vaguely remember reading something saying Christie was ordered to have a happy ending.)
As for the disappearing statues, the actor playing the killer actually took care of them as well as making sure any on-stage deaths were set up appropriately in blocking.
The set was also a bear for us.
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Posted By: scrantonvintage
Date Posted: 6/25/09 at 6:07pm
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I directed this my freshmen year of high school ( I do not recommend it being your first venture).
It is a great play and has some great characters and I do love it - however I do feel that unless you have the right cast, it is extremely boring.
Of course any play will not succeeded without strong performers, but due to the dated dialogue and dry humor in this play, without the right understanding of the roles, and without keeping it moving this play turns into a nightmare!
Also, as fantastic as it can be - it is overdone. I don't know what the theatre community is like in your area, but mine is filled with Agatha Christie, this being one of the local favorites. There is nothing wrong with doing a popular play, but maybe consider something a bit more off the beaten path?
On a score of 1 to 10, I give this play a 7. |
Posted By: stockhamlj
Date Posted: 6/25/09 at 9:40pm
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I saw this play at The Strand in London a few years ago and it was very, very engrossing and a fun play that caught the audience up in it ... As many times as I have seen the movie version (i.e., the one with Louis Hayward), it still captures and holds me. The production in London had a very simple set. GO FOR IT! ------------- Linda Stockham |
Posted By: Melvin
Date Posted: 6/28/09 at 1:12pm
| Great show, and the relatively cheap royalties don't hurt. It's cozy and creepy at the same time. Excellent and fun characters. I frankly don't see anything wrong with a happy ending for the finale. After all, it's not like Agatha cheats us in the area of killing! Also, it's a great puzzle. When my high school put it on the kids really got into the script and found at least 20 dead-on clues for the murderer which Agatha gave throughout the show. But there are so many red herrings, very few audience members ever figure it out. |
Posted By: WrenCharlie
Date Posted: 6/29/09 at 1:28pm
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I highly recommend it. I played Marston and had a great time. It is a unit set and requires minimal tech. It is male heavy, but i've heard of some theatres who have made some of the male roles female. For audience member who have not seen the show, they will find the ending surprising.
Go for it.
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Posted By: greenphoenix
Date Posted: 6/29/09 at 4:05pm
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Yes, I used a female as Dr. Armstrong. She was a great actress and it helped balance out the cast of men. I've also seen females used for Marston, Wargrave, Blore. It is trickier for Marston without adjusting the slant of the lines, if memory serves. I believe the character flirts with Vera, and they had her flirt with Lombard instead. |