And Then There Were None - UK Tour

[Steve]

Saw the (sold out!) matinee at Guildford this afternoon, and thought it was great fun, with the second half particularly well done, significantly escalating the pace and building an intense head of steam.

Basically, I agree with everything justfran has to say above.

Some spoilers follow. . .

For me, this was much more entertaining than the more sedate "Mousetrap," and a good deal of that is how Lucy Bailey opens up the space.

I thought Andrew Lancel's scene-chewing performance as the worst detective ever (or is he? Dum dum dum!) was terrific value, Joseph Beattie was suitably dynamic, and both Katy Stephens and Sophie Walter brought an involving psychological intensity to their performances.

I'm glad I went. 4 stars from me.

[ruggerlad]

Saw this evening in Nottingham and loved it.
The first act has the heavy lifting of setting up the characters and their crimes they have been judged to be guilty of.
The second half just flies.

The ending is just fantastically staged.
Loved the set being so innovative for a touring play.

Pretty uniform good to excellent performances.

And loved the same sex couple that made no difference to the plot nor the characterisation. Even if the type of audience meant that their kiss was greeted by a ‘oooohhh’ in parts of the audience.

Loved the f bomb too !

[willjam39]

Saw the tour on Friday in Wycombe and enjoyed it although there were bits I felt needed some more thinking through. I wasn't a fan of the way they used the set, i could see the idea with the beach/outside added in for certain scenes but the way characters just walked over that bit in normal scenes kind of highlighted the slope etc and as said above it didn't give the big art deco house vibes the script mentions.

Performances were good all round for us including the two understudies on.

I would say one thing that annoyed me is the fact they cheated with the deaths on stage as no one went near one of them so how could the murderer who ever it may be have put a knife in. I kept an eye out for this having made sure when i directed it that everything could have been done within the blocking.

[david]

After the positive reviews from board members about this tour and really enjoying the BBC adaption from 2015,  I saw that the Alexandra theatre were selling of single seats in the stalls for £25 so I took the opportunity to travel down to Birmingham to watch the Wednesday matinee. I have to say that I thought it was an excellent production from director Lucy Bailey and her team and was certainly well worth the ticket price and the travel time.

With the full cast on, I can't really fault them. All very watchable cast (Andrew Lancel alone was worth the ticket money) delivering plenty of tension and the twists and turns in Christie's classic story to full effect over the 2.5hrs. Act 2 for me was the stronger as the tension and violence was racked up compared to Act 1 which set up all the character's backstories. Despite knowing the ending, the way it was delivered on stage is still gave a powerful punch both emotionally and visually. The slight deviation with the butler / maid plotline from the original story really didn't make that much difference for me. 

A touring set from designer Mike Britton filled the stage nicely and allowed the cast to make maximum use of all the space available while the sound and lighting design from Elizabeth Purnell and Chris Davey respectively was also a great contribution to proceedings. 

Based on this viewing, I am hoping that the "Orient Express" tour later on this year will be just as good as this when  it comes up to the Lowry.

Rating - 4 stars

[mkb]

I do like Lucy Bailey’s style, and I love the fact that she’s at home with both high-brow and low-brow fare. I had seen too many versions of this particular Agatha Christie thriller to merit a revisit, but the presence of director Bailey swung it, despite the crazy prices for a mid-week night in the provinces. Others were clearly attracted too, as the vast Birmingham Alex stalls were 90% full.

Bailey does not disappoint. She elicits credible stage performances from the whole cast even those actors more used to working in mass-market telly, employs her usual pared-back but effective stage design (with trademark billowing white drapes), and keeps matter flowing nicely with the rough edges and holes in the plot neatly shrouded. It’s a fun ride, even when you know exactly what’s coming. Of course, you’re not entirely sure which ending will be used, and the one here works well. Even the gender switch felt right.

Recommended – four stars.

Act 1: 19:31-20:45
Act 2: 21:06-21:57
(Seen last Thursday)