LOCAL dramatic society the Service Players will be performing Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at the Gaiety Theatre, Douglas, early next month.
This production - which will be staged on October, 7, 8 and 9 - comes during the celebration of the 120th anniversary of the writer's birth.
Christie, who was born in Torquay in September 1890, still holds the all-time record for book sales, having sold two billion copies of her novels worldwide, which have been translated into 45 languages.
She also wrote over a dozen plays - the Mousetrap still being the longest running theatrical production ever.
Michael Hoy, author and former teacher, is directing And Then There Were None.
This will be the second Christie play that Michael has directed for the Service Players, having presented Murder on the Nile in 2007, as well as Noises Off, Dancing at Lughnasa and Dangerous Corner over the past few years.
And Then There Were None features perhaps Christie’s most complex plot line, which she allegedly had to spend much time working on to get right.
The theme of the play is the retribution of crimes that have gone unproved and unpunished by the legal system.
A disparate group of people is invited to a house party on a remote island where their host remains mysteriously absent.
When a gramophone recording accuses each of them in turn of murder the event turns into an unexpected trial where they have all been judged and sentenced accordingly.
The cast is a strong mixture of "old hands", including chairman of the society Chris Caine, Una King, Bernard Wood, Lindsay Quayle, Matt Cox, Ian Torbet and Rachel Martin – all of who starred in or helped with Murder on the Nile - and new members, but no strangers to the Gaiety stage, Mike Trout and John Barlow.
Juan Bridson of Arbory Players joins the cast for his fourth Service Players production. And the society also welcomes back Caitlin Howell Evans, who last starred in The Crucible in 2004, and who has recently returned to the Island having graduated from university.
Michael Hoy said: "And Then There Were None is the Service Players' second Agatha Christie production in recent years. Once again we have a talented, experienced and enthusiastic company, rehearsals are going very well and we look forward to welcoming our audiences to the Gaiety to share with us a very entertaining evening.
"The plot will keep you on the edge of your seats."
Curtain up is at 7.30pm. Call the box office on 600555 or visit www.villagaiety.com for tickets.
