Suspicion, paranoia create a perfect aura for mystery
Pix by M. A. Pushpa Kumara
“Ladies and gentlemen! Silence, please. You are charged with the following indictments.” Ten strangers are at a dinner table on a secluded island when a recorded voice accuses them each of murder. Comparing notes they realise that none of them know their hosts, the mysterious and missing ‘Mr and Mrs Owen’. It doesn’t take long for the ball to drop…because all is not as it seems-either with the island or its visitors. As the story unravels they are found dead, one by one, morbidly in tune to a nursery rhyme.
And so unfolds the story of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’, to be presented by Cold Theatre 7 in the first weekend of November. The Christie mystery is the 7th best-selling book of all time, which director Kevin Cruze finds to be a happy coincidence. He will tell you that the number 7 has defined his theatrical career. Kevin formed Cold Theatre 7 recently with the idea of bringing together the best of the industry and says seven people, including his family, were responsible for the group’s success while ironically, seven people were present at the first meeting. They were behind last year’s ‘Lankawe Twins Kalabala’. This year, they’re completely changing tune with one of the greatest suspense stories ever written. The production is accompanied by an original score by composer Hirushan Maddumarachchi who works with Geethika Cooray and the Old Joes choir to create the perfect aura of mystery for the tale.
Read on to discover the faces behind the characters.
Anuk De Silva plays Dr. Armstrong, a gullible and rather weak man who is invited to the island to supposedly provide a medical report for Mrs. Owen. Armstrong struggles with his own inner demons; a recovered alcoholic, he can never forget that he’s responsible for the accidental death of a patient due to operating while drunk. “He’s a victim of circumstance in part,” says Anuk.
Dulika Jayamanne is the guy that everyone loves to hate-the snarky butler, Mr. Rogers. “He’s very much a slime ball,” says the actor. “But you’re torn between suspecting him and feeling for him.” Rogers is married to Ethel, the housekeeper at the Owens residence. Neither seems to question the strange absence of their employers, whom they are yet to meet.
The couple has recently come across an inheritance which they’ve obtained by withholding vital medicine from a previous employer. Rogers has a strange relationship with his wife Ethel, played by Piumi Sumanasekara and Shenelka De Silva. “Ethel used to love her husband at some point and I suppose she still does,” says Piumi. “She will go along with what he says.” Don’t underestimate Ethel entirely though; she might not be as calculating as her husband, but she certainly has her own dark side.
Taking on another double act is Liza De Jong and Irandi Gunaratne as Vera Claythorne, a former governess who comes to the island purportedly to serve as a secretary to Mrs. Owen. The two actresses say that their interpretations of Vera might be subtle in comparison, but they make all the difference in the story. Vera has an even darker past than her fellow guests-she is accused of letting a boy in her care drown so his relative, whom she was in love with, would inherit the family estate.
Sachintha Dias is the burly Captain Lombard, perhaps the most straightforward man in the play. Lombard is accused of deserting his platoon while on duty and for the eventual death of his comrades. Lombard openly admits the fact, says Sachintha. “He laughs at the other guests because they’re very quick,” almost too quick “to deny the accusations levelled at them.”
Former police inspector and detective William Blore is also a guest at the house party. Dino Corea finds the many layers and sub plots within the play riveting and says that this is what sets it apart from the rest. “It’s interesting to experiment with the ways we interact with each other,” he says. When the numbers begin dwindling the guests begin to view each other with strong suspicion and eventually, paranoia. For Dino the most macabre thing about the play isn’t the chequered history of its guests or even the grisly murder to a nursery rhyme-it’s the classic horror story setup of not being able to get off the island. “That is very, very damning,”he says.
Rooshith Ranasinghe is the young, rich and incredibly spoilt Anthony Marston. Anthony is accused of killing two children in a car accident. “The worst thing about Anthony is that he just doesn’t care,” says Rooshith. “Those two kids were merely an inconvenience for him.” Joining the fray, but not as a guest on the island, is Enrico Silva as boatman Fred. “He’s probably the most obvious suspect,” says Enrico. “He has the only means of access to the island and he’s the only one who wasn’t invited.”
Chrishan Silva is Sir Lawrence Walgrave, the rather sadistic former judge who enjoys watching people squirm. Walgrave is accused of handing out unfair judgements based on his own prejudices and sending innocent people to their deaths. Chrishan finds the man rather unpleasant. “He’s in a position of power which he has misused because he misinterprets guilt.” For the actor it’s all about subtlety when it comes to this play. “It’s what you don’t say that counts.” Kavitha Gunasekara is on her second ever production as the rather fussy and puritanical Emily Brent. Emily is one of life’s great hypocrites, she grins. “Her wrongs are justified because she thinks they serve a higher purpose.” Kavitha found herself breaking an actor’s cardinal rule and watching the movie adaptation of the play. Usually, this would constrain a performance but she says it helped gain an understanding of the setting. “My performance is my own,” she says.
General McKenzie is the party’s oldest guest. “He’s a very straight forward, no-nonsense sort of man,” says Shehan Wijemanne. “And he’s very much a tough nut.” For Shehan the play excels in casting a cloak of suspicion over the entire cast. What was at the beginning of the play quickly changes, with the characters stepping out of themselves to become different people. “You don’t know who to accuse. Everyone’s a suspect at some point.”
Suspicion is rife and paranoia is at hand as the guests realize that they could be the next target of the island’s invisible killer. Will they escape unscathed? Or will there really be none left to tell the story at the end? Find out as ‘And Then There Were None’, produced by Cold Theatre 7 goes on board from November 1- 3 at the British School Auditorium. Tickets will be available at the venue prior to the show.
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