mean?
Each little red star is a clickable link to additional information on whatever listing it appears beside. It might be a link to an article in a local newspaper, or it might be a press release the company has sent me.
Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” Comes to NYSTI
Posted by Gail M. Burns - December 2009
TROY – If you can’t escape to a warm beach this winter, you can at least escape to NYSTI to see a great “beach read” as Director David Bunce refers to Agatha Christie’s island thriller And Then There Were None. Dame Agatha’s first adaptation for the stage will preview at the New York State Theatre Institute for a school audience on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 10:00 AM and for the public on Saturday, January 30 at 8:00 PM. For review purposes, the opening is Sunday, January 31 at 2:00 PM. All performances will be held at the Schacht Fine Arts Center, 5 Division Street, on the campus of Russell Sage College in Troy, January 29-February 12, 2010.
The Story
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is not a who-done-it so much as a who’s-doing-it. Mysterious hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, have invited seven guests and three new employees to their remote island off the coast of England for a holiday. As the ten new arrivals gather they realize that none of them have actually met the Owens and when a recorded message from Mr. Owens is played indicting them all of murder and sentencing them to death, they realize they never will meet Mr. Owens. In fact, when the first murder occurs and they confirm that there are no other people on the island they know that Mr. Owens does not exist except in the maniacal machinations of one of them.
And Then There Were None was originally written and published as a serialized novel in 1939. It has sold 100 million copies making it Christie’s best-selling novel and the seventh most popular book of all time. In 1943, Ms. Christie herself adapted it for the stage in what was her first adaptation from book to stage. She changed the ending considerably, giving the play version a happier ending than the book. It is her most adapted work, from stage to television to video games with some versions using the novel’s ending and others the play’s.
The Nursery Rhyme
Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One went and choked himself and then there were nine.
Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in half and then there were six.
Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Soldier boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Soldier boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two Little Soldier boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Soldier boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
The Author
The Official Agatha Christie web site notes that she is the best-selling author of all time with an estimated two billion books sold including those translated into over 45 different languages. Dame Agatha wrote 80 novels and short story collections and over a dozen plays in her more than fifty-year writing career. Her play, The Mousetrap, is the longest continuously running play in theatrical history. In the United Kingdom, her audiobooks outsell even J.K. Rowling’s and J.R.R. Tolkein’s. She wrote four books of non-fiction including her autobiography and accounts of her expeditions with her second husband, archeologist Sir Max Mallowan as well as six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she received the Order of Dame Commander of the British Empire, her country’s highest honor. She died peacefully in her home in January, 1976.
From Actor to Director
It is the thriller quality of the piece that is so attractive to first-time director Bunce. For Mr. Bunce this is, “by far the best Agatha Christie. I’m a fan of thrillers. Somebody’s going to die—in fact everybody’s going to die—if we don’t find and stop the killer. The stakes are higher than with other mysteries.” When Producing, Artistic Director Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder asked NYSTI company members several years ago if they were interested in directing, Mr. Bunce said yes and suggested this play.
Mr. Bunce has twice acted in the play with NYSTI in1984 and 1995 under its original name, Ten Little Indians (the island was named Indian Island). He first played Phillip Lombard and then Dr. Armstrong.
The Players
Guest Artist Mary Jane Hansen portrays Mrs. Owens’ newly hired secretary Vera Claythorne. She was most recently seen in NYSTI’s season opener, her own original play, A Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Last season’s highlights include Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, Curly’s wife in Of Mice and Men, and Juror No. Twelve in Twelve Angry Jurors. Other NYSTI roles includ the mysterious Anna in Anastasia, Martha Jefferson in 1776, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Elaine Harper in Arsenic and Old Lace, Joan in The Lark, Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday, Susy in Wait Until Dark, Laura Warwick in the Unexpected Guest, Nell in the NYSTI’s Audie Award-winning The Killings Tale, and Julia Simmons in A Murder is Announced. Other works of Ms. Hansen, the playwright, include American Soup, Hollowville, the adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence, and Letters from a Window in the Sky: A Tribute to Astrid Lindgren and Pippi. The audiobook of Hollowville was nominated for an Audies Award in the categories of Best Original Work and Best Multi-Voiced Performance.
Guest Artist Tim Dugin is new to NYSTI and takes on the role of Philip Lombard whose irreverent personality emerges as he helps lead the group through the harrowing events of the story, He has appeared as Garry Lejeune in Noises Off with C-R Productions at Cohoes Music Hall. With Saratoga Shakspeare Company: As You Like It (Orlando), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), The Tempest (Caliban) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Demetrius). Other favorite credits include Tuesdays with Morrie (Oldcastle Theatre Company), and A Perfect Ganesh and As Bees in Honey Drown (Actor’s Collaborative, Inc.). Tim has studied with Lisa Rothe in NYC and also trained at Shakespeare & Co. and American Conservatory Theatre. TV credits include Guiding Light, As the World Turns, and One Life to Live. He teaches Acting both at the John Sayles School of Fine Arts at Schenectady High School and at Union College.
Guest Artist Ron Komora portrays jurist Sir Lawrence Wargrave who assumes a leadership role in untangling the mystery. Mr. Komora has worked both on stage and off as a dancer, actor, stage manager and administrator. This is Ron’s fourteenth season performing at NYSTI where he has appeared as Dickinson in 1776, Alonso in The Tempest, Calgary in Ordeal by Innocence, Dr. Carrasco in Man of La Mancha, Morris in Fiorello! and Tom Bailey in A Wonderful Life.
CAST
Role Actor Residence
Rogers Joe Quandt Troy
Mrs. Rogers Eileen Schuyler Delmar
Vera Claythorne Mary Jane Hansen Saratoga Springs
Philip Lombard Tim Dugan Malta
Anthony Marston David Girard Troy
William Blore Joel Aroeste Albany
General Mackenzie John Romeo Albany
Emily Brent Carole Edie Smith Schenectady
Sir Lawrence Wargrave Ron Komora Nassau
Dr. Armstrong John McGuire Averill Park
Fred Narracott Dick Harte Delmar
*Institute Intern
The Creative Team
Creative Team
Playwright Agatha Christie
Director David Bunce
Set Design Ken Goldstein
Lighting Design John McLain
Costume Design Robert Anton
Sound Design 100% Sound
Production Stage Manager Heather Hamelin and Anna Lucia Dede Pankin
Asst. Stage Managers Charles Franklin* and Amanda Vogue*
Assistant to the Director Shannon Rafferty
Producing Artistic Director Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder
*Institute Intern
David Bunce makes his full-length directorial debut with And Then There Were None. He serves as NYSTI’s fight choreographer and has directed staged readings, commercials, short films, and industrials. He has written the scripts Learning to Fly, Incisions, Gasoline and Lightning and the Edgar Allen Poe inspired stage play The House of Usher. His scenic design for shows include Brighton Beach Memoirs, Chapter II, Rosencrantz and Guilldenstern are Dead, Terra Nova, Tribute, The Real Inspector Hound.
Mr. Bunce has acted in roughly 150 productions at NYSTI including Juror #8 in Twelve Angry Jurors, George in Of Mice and Men, Dr. Frederick Treves in The Elephant Man, Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman, Phineas Fogg in Around the World in Eighty Days, Paul Verrall in Born Yesterday, Michael in American Soup, Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace, Mr. Nilsson the Duck in Letters from a Window in the Sky and Gen. George McClellan in Reunion.
Ken Goldstein (scenic designer) is an Assistant Professor of Set Design at the University at Albany and is the Resident Set Designer at Northern Stage where he designs a number of shows each season. His other regional credits include productions at Capital Repertory, Barrington Stage Company, Skylight Opera Theatre, Seaside Music Theatre, Foothills Theatre, American Stage, Saint Michael’s Playhouse, and Orlando Rep. New York productions include the award winning NYMF show Isabelle and the Pretty Ugly Spell, Chuck Mee’s Trojan Women: a love story, and Orestes for Lightbox Theatre Company, The Lady Next Door for the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, the American Girl’s Revue at the American Girl Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and Dreyfus in Rehearsal at the Beckett Theatre. Ken is a graduate of Brandeis University and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
Two-time Emmy Award-winning costume designer (Guiding Light, Love of Life) Robert Anton, has costume designed several shows for NYSTI in recent years, including Twelve Angry Jurors, Anastasia, Macbeth, Born Yesterday, Man of La Mancha, The Secret Garden, and The Unexpected Guest. Anton has designed widely for theatre, television, and film, and is also an MFA graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
100% Sound is a full-service audio production company that has collaborated with NYSTI on numerous productions including musicals, mysteries, Shakespeare, and audiobooks. Its recordings of NYSTI’s Sherlock’s Secret Life and The Killings Tale won Audie Awards, and the film Dorian Blues won a 2004 Cinequest Audience Award.
Lighting Designer John McLain has designed lights for a show at NYSTI each year since 1986—most recently last season’s The Philadelphia Story and Twelve Angry Jurors. He has designed for all major regional theaters in the USA and Opera Companies all around the world including Washington Opera, Cleveland, Portland, San Francisco, Dallas, Seattle, Geneva, Amsterdam, and Paris. He designed the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Kennedy Center. Designs for road companies include The Wiz, Rugrats, Ice Capades, The King & I, Fiddler On The Roof, Annie, Ken Hill’s Phantom, Miss Saigon, and more. John lives in New York and Connecticut.
Saturday, January 30, 8:00 PM
Sunday, January 31, 2:00 PM
Friday, February 5, 8:00 PM
Saturday, February 6, 8:00 PM+
Sunday, February 7, 2:00 PM
Friday, February12, 8:00 PM
Weekdays: January 29, February 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 at 10:00 AM
+ Sign Language Interpreted Performance;
Assistive Listening Devices Available at All Performances
NYSTI BOX OFFICE: (518) 274-3256, WEBSITE: www.nysti.org
Adults $20, Senior Citizen & Student $16, Child to age 12 $10
Produced by the NYS Theatre Institute and performed
at the Schacht Fine Arts Center, Russell Sage College, 5 Division St., Troy, NY
January 26, 4 – 6 pm
The Making of And Then There Were None
Behind-the-Scenes background on creation of the NYSTI’s production of And Then There Were None. Schacht Fine Arts Center, Russell Sage College, 5 Division St., Troy. Public welcome. Free, but make reservations by January 22: (518) 274-3286.