She may not be the best there is available but she is certainly the most popular. And it isn’t hard to discover why. Clichés and predictability aside, Agatha Christie’s narrative is eminently readable, her characters piquant and unforgettable, her candid observations of life instantly relatable. The old-fashioned murder — mired in domesticity, coloured by middle-class morality and influenced by the likes of Crippen, Smith and Borden, take you back to a less complicated era where murder wasn’t yet homicide, detectives used their little grey cells instead of studying blood spatter analysis reports and knowledge of human nature was all you needed to solve a crime.
And Then There Were None , based on Christie’s mystery novel by the same name, a whodunit that overreaches itself, was performed by The Madras Players in association with Crea-Shakthi at Museum Theatre this weekend. Ten people are lured to a lonely island, off the coast of Devon, under various pretexts. All are believed to have been involved in the destruction of another human being but have evaded justice so far. Not anymore. Death stalks every single inhabitant of that Island and he decides to base his modus operandi on the Ten Little Soldiers nursery rhyme.
The sets, designed by Victor Paulraj and team, which mostly consist of Baroque furniture, a French window that is supposed to overlook the sea and a well-stocked bar manage to recreate the grand home where the unravelling of the mystery occurs. The pièce de résistance is the mantelpiece that has a line of 10 soldiers arranged on it — as the play progresses and its characters get killed, they topple over, one by one. The sound effects verge on the loud at times, but are forgivable under the circumstances — I would go so far as to say that perhaps, the melodrama of the situation, demanded it. The lighting is brilliant — the brightening and fading as the day progresses and the dramatic white and blue background lights, manage to relay the eeriness and unrealism of the settings.
P.C. Ramakrishna as a slightly-touched, hugely intelligent Justice Wargrave was unquestionably the star of the play. His relation of the poem at the beginning of the play followed by an unmistakably evil cackle set the tone of this dark story while the final pursuit and attempt at killing Vera is a perfect portrayal of hitherto hidden insanity unleashed. D. Ramachandran as Rogers is the straight-backed, snooty butler, while Sunandha Raghunathan’s Vera is a rather good portrayal of the femme fatale (in more ways than one) hiding under the efficient governess. Yohan Chacko’s nervy Dr. Armstrong and Sandeep John’s hearty Blore aren’t bad, sentimental, old General Mackenzie is played fairly well by Prem Thomas while Bible-bashing, ancient, diddy Emily Brent is interpreted rather nicely by Tehzeeb Katari.
Sure, at some points the suspension of disbelief is forced, there are inadequacies in the plot, the British accents slip a bit and the ending is a little far-fetched. But the admirable performance, sudden humour, interesting characterisation and overall atmosphere created on stage, keep you hooked to the very end.
