REVIEWED: And Then There Were None

“The whole thing is like a detective story. It’s [very almost] thrilling.”

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Walking into The Assembly Rooms to watch the Freshers Play is an exciting moment. At the risk of an awful pun, the Freshers Play introduces us to many new characters on the Durham stage – looking through the programme I can honestly say I recognized not one single name.

The set was simple but effective. Even before I had sat down, the motif of the little soldier boys, crucial to the development of the plot, was immediately apparent, clear and effective whilst Georgia Small and James Ryan’s painted backdrop was truly stunning.

Generally the cast were good, though at times a little solid and one dimensional in their portrayals. Strong performances were seen, but unfortunately the performance was typically that of an opening night. Early moments of humor were lost on the audience who stayed deadpan for too long. Tripping over lines was, for some of the cast, a definite issue. Some subtleties and nuances of the characters were lost with too much reliance on stereotype.

Ellie Gauge, after relaxing into her part as Mrs Rogers, had a likable stage presence whilst Ellis-Anne Dumall, as the assured Vera Claythorne, showed some good depth of character. Hugh Train was a good (and rather melodramatic) comic actor at times, but he was lost in the absence of speech. Fleur Manning, in her portrayal of the curt Ms Brent, skillfully provided both an antithesis to the onstage comedy and, in doing so, comic moments for the audience whilst Maurice Samely’s Lombard got the biggest laugh of the night.

Although, for the large part, Zenia Selby’s direction seemed strong what the piece lacked most was consistency. There were triumphant moments of sadness, fear and suspense but also moments of the opposite. Whereas some parts had fantastic energy, the beginning and the end were slow. Accents drifted in and out whilst costuming, though generally impressive, moved between eras somewhat. Technical direction was, again, inconsistent. We were treated to some truly excellent lighting design but also superfluous lighting cues which seemed to correlate little with the onstage action, and one or two minor technical gaffes which sacrificed any suspense which had been built up to.

The play may have taken a while to get going but the laughs did gradually pick up. And you can’t beat an Agatha Christie ‘whodunnit’ thriller for a compelling storyline. However an Agatha Christie needs both elements of surprise and suspense. These were certainly achieved (and to a high standard) in parts, most noticeably in a clever lighting design to aid concealment of a character in one corner of the stage, in others they failed by being downplayed too much.

Nevertheless I was entertained. I was compelled to find out who the murderer was. That the performance had been put together in such a short time, so soon after the freshers’ arrival in Durham was admirable and I certainly look forward to seeing these guys direct / produce / tech / act in the years to come.