Venue: Theatre Royal (Sydney NSW), May 3 – Jun 1, 2025
Playwright: Agatha Christie
Director: Robyn Nevin
Cast: Jack Bannister, Eden Falk, Jennifer Flowers, Nicholas Hammond, Mia Morrissey, Peter O’Brien, Christen O’Leary, Chris Parker, Anthony Phelan, Grant Piro, Tom Stokes
Images by Jeff Busby
Theatre review
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None was, believe it or not, originally titled Ten Little N****rs at its time of publication in wartime 1939, but it is ten ostensibly white people who we witness to have descended upon an isolated island off the Devon coast, in South West England. The mysterious gathering proceeds to see its guests and staff killed off one by one, after the last boat has left.
The classic whodunit is given the most traditional of treatments by director Robyn Nevin, who brings polish to a tried-and-tested style of theatre presentation. Nothing is being reinvented, but the formula works well to have us involved in the crime-solving pleasure, that is characteristic of Christie’s oeuvre.
A lavish production design by Dale Ferguson transports us somewhere fabulously rich, with lights by Trudy Dalgleish adding to the glamorous imagery. Paul Charlier’s sound design helps to escalate tension, as the story moves along. The ensemble is cohesive and equally matched, although it may seem that performers are more effective rendering dramatic rather than comical aspects, of this Golden Age detective story.
Although approaching a century old, it is possible to perceive in And Then There Were None the perverse phenomenon of grievance by the wealthy, that is today so prominent a feature of our social ills. Like the victims invited to the Owens’ murderous mansion, we find ourselves subject to the absolutely unjustifiable vengeful actions of the wealthy, who very weirdly and perplexingly believe, that their misery can be mended by inflicting all manner of punishment on us.
Suzy Goes See 