Over the holiday season, my thus-far traditional Saturdays off are going to be sort of rearranged around family time, and since there were at least 2 days last week without a play it seems entirely fair now that I'm back on track to just keep going.
I've brought along a book of eight of Christie's plays to get me through the majority of the season (though I have A Winter's Tale for Christmas eve) and it seems even more fitting that I should be in Devon while reading them, as it turns out this is where she did the majority of her writing (and indeed, it's where this first one is set). And Then There Were None sets ten people lured to and stranded on Indian Island, each accused of having a hand in someone's death, either directly as murderer or through careless action or inaction. The action played out over the course of several days reminds me very much of the film Clue, with plenty of farce in what would otherwise be a terrifying predicament.
As reading material the style is light and quick - I have seen Mousetrap performed, though quite some time ago now, which is what tempted me to look into Christie's broader repetoire in the first place, and it doesn't disappoint. As a short and comedic murder mystery there's not a lot of take-home moral message but there are certain acting challenges which come to mind. The stage layout is very particularly prescribed and stays largely the same throughout the play - which is something I've complained about in the past but in this case it is necessary and gives a much clearer idea of the grand scale and remote location of the house where the play is set without actually needing to show all of it. Very much looking forward to getting through the rest of these plays over the next couple of weeks!
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