And Then There Were None

Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, Monday, July 13, to Saturday, July 18

“IT really frustrates me that Agatha Christie’s plays aren’t recognised in the literary canon. She’s the most performed woman dramatist in the history of theatre. At one stage she had two plays on Broadway and two plays at the West End, which has only been matched by Noel Coward. But people never talk about her.”

Over the last ten years Joe Harmston and the Agatha Christie Theatre Company have made it their mission to change audience’s opinions of the Mistress Of Suspense.

And as they celebrate their first decade with a revival of their most successful play to date And Then There Were None Harmston believes the success of a rival touring production underlines how much her audience has grown.

“When The Mousetrap went on tour we were more than a little concerned,” he says. “We thought it would take some of our audience, but in fact it has done quite the opposite. It has meant audiences can see such a range of her work – there are so many different things they could experience.”

Part of the association of Christie with potboiler murder mysteries comes down to poor productions and adaptations of her novels.

“When I first started looking at The Hollow ten years ago [the first Agatha Christie Theatre Company touring production] I picked up a secondhand copy in a book shop,” says Harmston.

“One of the really interesting psychological scenes in the play had been crossed out by a professional director. I always say her plays are whydunnits, not whodunits. The key is always why the murderer was pushed to do what they did. It’s where the fascination comes from.

“For so long people didn’t invest time, effort or money into her plays, they became synonymous with bad theatre – almost like Cluedo on stage, with the details and character development cut out.”

With his theatre company Harmston has carefully chosen his Christie plays, ensuring each year offered a different angle of the crime novelist-turned-playwright’s art.

“One of the most delightful comedies I have ever directed is Spider’s Web,” he says. “Verdict was a psychological drama where the murderer is irrelevant to the overall story. Witness For The Prosecution is possibly the finest courtroom drama of all time. And And Then There Were None is a Grand Guignol horror piece.”

Set on a remote island off the Devon coast, it sees a group of ten characters brought together by a mysterious outsider, who are then gradually picked off one-by-one in more ingenious and gruesome ways.

“People were very negative about the idea of turning it into a play, partly because Christie’s book worked in a very different way,” says Harmston. “The whole book is told through people’s letters, diaries and so on – so I think a lot of people wondered how it could be staged in real time.

“One of the clever things about it is the way she has not made the murders a big gory thing. The ones which happen on stage we have done every single thing that should have happened – we don’t cheat. So far nobody has noticed the action going on. The more blood-thirsty murders – like people being axed to death - happen offstage. The drama is about the psychology of fear. It’s about anticipation – about people not knowing what is going to happen next.”

He has enjoyed revisiting the play, which on this tour stars Paul Nicholas, Dalziel And Pascoe’s Colin Buchanan, Susan Penhaligon of A Bouquet Of Barbed Wire, former Blue Peter presenter Mark Curry, Emmerdale’s Verity Rushworth, Emmerdale and Dr Who star Frazer Hines and Soldier Soldier’s Ben Nealon.

But he promises some big changes for the next ten years.

“We will be exploring some new territory in the next decade,” he says. “My passion for her work is undimmed, I’m looking forward to continuing to be involved in her work. We are talking about what to do next, and how we can keep developing.”

One thing is fairly certain – it’s unlikely Christie’s Egyptian epic Akhnaton will be on the table.

“It is an extraordinary play, but unless you do something very dramatic it is essentially unplayable,” says Harmston adding the play was performed professionally for the first and only time in the Palace Theatre, Westcliff On Sea in 2001 as part of a repertory season of all Christie’s 33 plays.

“It has a cast of 49 which is lavish.

“It shows how glorious her theatrical ambition is. The Mousetrap works wonderfully in one room, it’s all about the history of the people and revenge. Akhnaton is about an Egyptian dynasty and archaeology – it is still amazing.”

Starts 7.45pm, 2.30pm matinees Thurs and Sat, tickets from £15. Call 08448 717650.