The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘And Then There Were None’ at the Warner Theatre
TORRINGTON —The Warner Stage Company will present Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” in the Warner Theatre’s Nancy Marine Studio Theatre, with peformances on weekends from Saturday, Sept. 23 to Oct. 1.
“And Then There Were None” is the world’s bestselling mystery ever, with 100 million sales to date. Widely considered to be Christie’s masterpiece, her own stage adaptation of this dark and captivating tale will thrill and enthral, as murder unfolds.
A group of 10 strangers is lured to a remote island off the coast of Devon. Upon arrival it is discovered that their host, an eccentric millionaire, is missing. At dinner a recorded message is played accusing each of them in turn of having a guilty secret and by the end of the evening the 10 guests become nine. Stranded on the island by a torrential storm and haunted by an ancient nursery rhyme, one by one the guests begin to die. And with only the fallen believed to be innocent who amongst them is the killer?
One of Christie’s darkest tales and a masterpiece of dramatic construction, its growing sense of dread and unfaltering tension will keep you guessing to the very end.
Agatha Christie’s play has been performed successfully all over the world since its première in 1943 with an ending which is unique to the play and is not that of the novel on which it is based. There is much evidence that this was not her initial intention but was instead the result of what was perceived to be the needs of audiences at a very dark time in history.
She never shied from taking notice of others’ input and the success then and since of the play vindicates her approach and their views. In recent years, enterprising producers presenting to, perhaps, more inquiring audiences have experimented with incorporating the novel’s ending in the play. This, too, has been well received leading to a controversy as to which is the “real” ending.
On the 125th anniversary of her birth, Matthew Pritchard (Agatha Christie’s grandson) made the choice available to all producers
and directors to express their views as to the writThe er’s intention by enabling us to choose from the 1943 (play) ending and the 1939 (novel) ending — allowing us to face the same choice his grandmother faced.
Warner Stage Company production of “And Then There Were None” is directed by Lynn Paulella Beard with John Ozerhoski as assistant director and features Nicholas Bourne, Tony Enright, Roger Grace, MayTae Harge, Eric Lindblom, Scott Murphy, Lana Peck, Thursday Savage, Anthony Stachowitz, Payton
Turpin and Mike Zizka. Performances are Sept. 23, 29 and 30 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 24 and Oct. 1 at 2 p.m.
To purchase tickets, call the Warner Box Office at
860-489-7180 or visit warnertheatre.org.
The Nancy Marine Studio Theatre Series is sponsored by Northwest Community Bank.