And Then There Were None

Milton Keynes Theatre

6^th February 2024

After being frustratingly curtailed by RAAC issues which cancelled its Northampton debut last September, the national tour of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ kicked off in Glasgow instead, and is now about halfway through its run, with Milton Keynes audiences being the latest detectives to try and solve the mystery.  The novel remains the best-selling mystery story of all time with over 100 million copies sold, and has been adapted for TV and film several times.  85-years-young, the story sees a group of strangers invited to a secluded island property by an unknown host (not suspicious at all!), and once all the small talk is over, the group realises that their individual secrets have been uncovered, and that they all have a dark connection.  Two shock happenings lead to the realisation that they’re being targeted one-by-one, and the conclusion is drawn that the perpetrator must be one of them.  But can they work out who it is before there are ‘none’ left standing?

Agatha Christie certainly knew her way around a good whodunnit, and while they’re arguably more focused on dialogue than jump scares, there’s still an old fashioned charm in trying to play along and solve the puzzle, and her stories have always adapted well to the stage because of this.  ‘And Then There Were None’, directed by Lucy Bailey, largely follows in the same vein, spending a long time (perhaps too long) on early character establishment and interaction before the action starts to unfurl, which again takes its time.  It is a very “talky” piece, with no real action to speak of, which does make the pace suffer as a result.  Most of the key moments of the story actually happen off-stage and are merely referred to, which does feel somewhat dissatisfying, and it would’ve made the play far more engrossing to see these discoveries at the same time the characters see them rather than just as they tell each other what they’ve just seen. 

The set design (Mike Britton), while attractive enough, remains pretty much the same throughout the show, save for a nice flowing curtain and a few bits of furniture, which again doesn’t create much of a flow and can make the play feel quite lethargic at times.  It also lacks a little something in terms of a suspenseful atmosphere, which would be enriched by a more sinister background score to create a deeper feeling of dread.  It all feels a little gentle, and while perfectly enjoyable, it needs more light and shade to really kick it up a gear to be a real thriller.

The cast are uniformly great at playing their individual characters, even if they are mostly archetypal Christie templates.  The men are suitably commanding, the woman strong and sharp-tongued, and everyone does well.  Oliver Clayton and Lucy Tregear succeed in bringing some light comedy to their roles of Marston and Rogers respectively, and Sophie Walter is a particular standout as secretary Vera Claythorne, as is David Yelland as Judge Wargrave who is also excellent.

Taken as a mystery drama rather than a tense thriller, ‘And Then There Were None’ delivers Christie’s most popular work in a faithful and engaging way.  It doesn’t set the pulse racing as perhaps it should, but it’s a good reminder of a great novelist’s gift for storytelling, and worth leaving the sofa for this week.

‘And Then There Were None’ runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 10^th February 2024, before continuing on its UK tour until April.

Performance runtime 2 hours 30 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan