And Then There Were None At Drayton Entertainment
I didn’t add Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Drayton Entertainment’s St Jacobs Country Playhouse to my list of must-sees for a simple reason. I hate this kind of show.
Why? you might ask. For the simple reason that, fiercely intelligent as I am, I assume that I will have no trouble guessing “whodunnit” well before the final reveal. The problem is, I never do.
But when friends pointed out that this production of And Then There Were None (hereinafter simply None) featured some of my favourite actors and that it was directed by one of my favourite actors, Mike Shara, I decided to join them. I’m glad I did.
None proved to be extremely popular with the theatregoing public, which meant the only available tickets were for the penultimate performance. By the time you read this, the show will have closed.
Still, in the interest of completeness I will soldier on – briefly.
None is fairly typical Christie: a cross-section of colourful Brit stereotypes (plus in this case one American) in an exotic or at least upper crusty setting involved in an improbable murder mystery that, when once solved, leaves behind a trail of plot holes big enough to swallow half the audience.
Even so, when done well, this sort of twaddle can be jolly entertaining, eh wot? And so it is with this outing of None, under Shara’s sturdy directorial hand.
Christie strands her cast of ten in a posh mansion on a rocky island off the coast of Devon. (The eleventh cast member is the ferryman who brings them there.) No phone. No boat. No way out.
A pre-recorded message, played by the unsuspecting butler, announces that they are all guilty of murder and that they will all pay the ultimate price.
One by one, the guests wind up dead until – spoiler alert – “then there were none.”
I rather enjoyed the proceedings of None, especially the superbly detailed set by Drayton regular Doug Paraschuk.
That’s not to slight the performances in None, which were exemplary. As I anticipated, I most enjoyed Randy Hughson as the Yank. He has a wonderful way of turning the most pedestrian of lines into big laughs. I was also pleased to see once again Wayne Best, who inexplicably is no longer gracing the Stratford Festival stage. His demented old general is a hoot. Too bad he doesn’t get more stage time. (Oops! Did I give something away.)
I was also impressed by Thom Marriott as a pompous judge and Tracey Ferencz as a prudish spinster.
And Then There Were None closed on June 7, 2026.
As a public service, let me add that Hughson and Ferencz will be reprising their roles in a revival of Misery at the Huron Country Playhouse near Grand Bend from July 2 to July 18, 2026. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Drayton Entertainment website.
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