Cold Theatre 7’s And Then There Were None, the theatrical rendition of Agatha Christie’s classic and best-selling crime novel, unravelled at the Lionel Wendt Theatre last weekend from 10-12 May, 2024. 

Written in 1939, And Then There Were None is a tale of murder, mystery and mayhem – a quintessential Christie whodunnit. The play begins with eight strangers arriving to an isolated home on the famous Soldier Island by invitation of a Mr and Mrs Owen. The guests gathered on the desolate island are greeted by a butler (Mr. Rogers) and a cook (Mrs. Rogers) but not their hosts. It eventually becomes clear that the invitation is not at all what it seems – each of the eight were lured there under false pretences.

Cut off from the outside due to a raging storm and with no telephone or help in sight, everything goes horribly wrong from the start. It's not long until the group realizes its only them on the island and a killer is lying among them in plain sight. The play offers plenty of twists and turns as guest are bumped off one by one to an eerie song that predicts it all: “Ten little solder boys went out to dine; one choked his little self and then there were nine…” and so it goes. 

Cold Theatre 7 (CT7) has always had a penchant for murder mysteries, having successfully staged Christie’s beloved courtroom thriller Witness for the Prosecution back in 2022. Director Kevin Cruze hails And Then There Were None as one of Christie’s best plays and fondly recalls staging it in 2013. Now, he brings this classic back to the stage a decade later with a original music score composed by Hirushan Maddumaarachchi and a stellar cast.

The play unfolded in two acts. The first act took its time to set the scene, allowing the audience to get to know the characters and their background history.  The audience meets a judge, a doctor, a retired general, an ex-policeman undercover, a secretary, a religious fanatic and a cheeky character (who is the first to go, of course).  The first act had a slow start, but the second half picked it up and kept us on our toes a bit more.  When the suspicions mount and accusations start to fly, we were all in. 

With the original play being  as young as 85 years of age, it relies largely on the actors to bring out the best of the classic script and plot and the cast were certainly up to the task, each perfect for their role in every way.  The cast comprised largely of familiar faces, most of whom are veterans in the English theatre industry with years of experience. 

Michelle Herft as Vera Claythrone really embodied a gentile yet powerful persona of Vera while Abbasali Rozais as Justice Wargrave gave the personification of a classic judge, always apart from the rest while still engaged with the cast.  Milinda Randeniya was the cheeky and fun Anthony Marston while Wassam Ismail played the suave Philip Lombard. Niren Ranasinghe played the troubled Dr. Armstrong, Dulika Jayamanne the stern General Mackenzie and Amesh Desilva as the police detective moonlighting as William Blore. Melanie Bibile played the judgemental religious fanatic to the T and Tharusha Kumarasinghe and Tahsha de Silva in their roles as Mr and Mrs. Rodgers wrung out laughter from the audience with their dry humour and dynamic as husband and wife/butler and cook. 

Overall, an enjoyable show that set its own pace.

“It was great to see one of Agatha Christie’s classics on stage. The first bit was a little slow, but I thought the cast did a great job. It was as thrilling as the book.” – Amanda

“I enjoyed it. I think each of the cast really suits their character and it’s great to have good theatre back again” – Selvan 

“I’m an Agatha Christie fan. I watched their Witness for Prosecution last year and they were great, so I knew I had to come watch And Then There Were None. It’s a very old story but I think her stories are timeless. Great job by the cast” - Priyanthika

Pictures by Waruna Wanniarachchi