‘Ten Little Indians’ invites audience to pinpoint killer

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, April 7, 2005

OAK HARBOR – Eight people arrive at a country house on Indian Island, off the coast of Devon, England. All are there for the weekend at the invitation of a mysterious, absent host.

A disembodied voice booming from a phonograph puts them in an awkward spot, to say the least, as it tells of secret murders they’ve all committed in the past. Then, one by one, they end up dead, following the route laid out in the famous “Ten Little Indians” nursery rhyme.

As things get progressively tense, these guests can only wish they were participants in the TV show “Survivor.” Alas, they can’t be booted off this island. There’s no way off.

With clever clues thrown in to put would-be detectives in the audience off the trail, the killer’s identity is hard to pinpoint.

The play described here is based on Dame Agatha Christie’s 1939 “And Then There Were None.” Considered one of her most popular novels, it went to the London stage, became “Ten Little Indians,” and spawned three movies.

At last Saturday night’s Whidbey Playhouse performance, there was nary a cough or clearing of the throat from audience members, who were thoroughly engrossed in studying each character to see whether they were guilty. At intermission, folks in the lobby weighed in aloud with their guesses about whodunit, and those who “knew” kept quiet. Ballots were available for the audience to fill out with their pick for villain, with the winner receiving a gift certificate.

Under the able direction of Dottie Morgan, the Whidbey Playhouse production is acted with aplomb from start to finish by a talented cast.

Standouts include Tonya Frederick, Jack MacPherson, Jim Siggens and Ed Bennett. As Vera Claythorne, Frederick plays a young governess turned secretary, somewhat coquettish and full of suspicious scowls, not to mention blood-curdling screams.

MacPherson’s Gen. Mackenzie is an eloquent old man haunted by regret-filled memories of events long past.

Siggens’ Sir Lawrence Wargrove is the judge, the all-commanding man in chancery.

Bennett is the classic nerve specialist, Dr. Armstrong, whose own nerves are so shot he cannot control a trembling hand.

Cori Siggens also brings believably self-righteous behavior to her character, Emily Brent.

Set designer Rebekka Handschke has transformed the old church stage into the proper English sitting room of a manor on the rugged Cornish coast. There are screaming seagulls that sound as the French doors are opened.

There’s a finely crafted stone fireplace, etchings on the wall, an overstuffed davenport, upright armchairs, and the ever-present tea cart bearing possibly poisoned beverages.