And Then There Were None at The Wycombe Swan Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mel Randle

Last night we took a trip to the Wycombe Swan theatre in High Wycombe for a night of murder, mystery and intrigue! Agatha Christie’s best selling novel ‘And Then There Were None’ is currently touring the UK with a few familiar faces from the world of television. I haven’t read the book but have seen the BBC adaptation some years ago. Fortunately I couldn’t remember the ending so the whole thing was fresh to me and the ‘whodunnit’ remained a mystery until the end.

As a big musical fan, this was a step out of my comfort zone so I was intrigued to see how they could hold my attention for two and a half hours without any big toe tapping numbers! I’m pleased to report they did! Although a greater level of concentration was required because the speaking did seem quiet. There didn’t seem to be any microphones, but fortunately we had a very well behaved audience as I think any sweet rustling could have disturbed the whole thing! The storyline was easy to follow, the characters were all introduced well and I bought into each and every one of them.

The play is set in a mansion on a solitary island in Devon. The stage was set with sounds of lapping waves and seagulls played throughout. The story took place in two rooms of the mansion, differentiated by props and a moving curtain which was adjusted several times to give us a different angle of the scene. The central focus was on the ‘ten little soldiers’ on the dining table that disappeared one by one as the guests died.

Each character had been lured to the island by a mysterious stranger, based on misdemeanours in their past. I really enjoyed the diversity of the characters, my favourites being Emily Brent (played by Katy Stevens) a self-righteous old biddy who raised a few laughs from the audience, and William Blore (played by Andrew Lancel), your typical cockney detective who thinks he has the case wrapped up! I always enjoy trying to guess where I recognise people from so in the interval we occupied ourselves on google with a few a-ha moments. You will no doubt recognise a few yourselves from Corrie, Foyles War, Holby City and many more!

Without giving the game away, the murders were really cleverly executed – although I wasn’t convinced by the fake blood. It looked like they had run out of blood and replaced it by bright red paint instead! There were a few shock moments and a few jump out your skin moments (literally!) The ending was really rather harrowing (no spoilers), so well done to the crew for that!

Overall I really enjoyed the evening. It’s certainly not a play I could watch twice. Once you know the ending I think that’s it, but I am really glad I have seen it once. I didn’t guess and it was a very clever twist at the end which I think we expect from Christie.

Rating: 4/5

Tickets between £28 – £46

A transaction fee of up to £3.95 may apply to your order.

And Then There Was None is playing at the Wycombe Swan from Wednesday 28th February – Saturday 2nd March 2024

https://trafalgartickets.com/wycombe-swan-theatre/en-GB/event/play/and-then-there-were-none-tickets

https://mywycombe.com/events/and-then-there-were-none/

Tickets can be booked at Book And Then There Were None tickets | Wycombe Swan Theatre (trafalgartickets.com)