Classic Whodunit Aims to Puzzle FCT Audiences

By Dixie Walters

Murder and intrigue take center stage at the Fauquier Community Theatre in March, as Agatha Christie's classic whodunit, "And Then There Were None," makes its debut.

The action begins after 10 strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured by a cryptic invitation to an island mansion off the coast of Devon in England. Theatergoers soon learn that all the guests have a guilty secret in their past and that someone with murderous intent plans to make them all pay for what they've done. It's not long before the guests begin to die, one by one. Just as startling, their deaths mirror a nursery rhyme they are introduced to that hints at how they'll each meet their demise.

Even more puzzling than the methodical deaths is the question of who the murderer is; that question should keep even the best amateur sleuths perplexed until the surprise ending.

"When people come to see the show, they really need to be paying close attention because we'll be throwing curves to the audience, and there are clues sprinkled all the way through," said Scott Olson, the play's director, who notes that even the poster for the play contains a clue. 

Minor aspects of the story have been changed up, allowing FCT to add its own flavor to the mystery. "So even those who know the script may be surprised," Olson said.

A Unique Offering

A murder mystery is unique to the Fauquier Community Theatre lineup this season. The theater's other offerings have included musicals, a comedy and a Christmas play. The genre has presented its share of directorial challenges in that "a lot has to happen on a small stage," said Olson. Specifically, characters fall dead on stage, and the other actors have to work around them.

Cast members include Sam Reau, Carolyn Cameron, Marc White, Kirsten Burt, Brandon Dawson, Andrew Buning, Gary Parsons, Ken Clayton, Lori Muhlstein, Leland Shook & Evan Jones. The producer of the play is Evelyn Rice.

Each character has a back-story that is revealed as the show goes on, adding "mystery on top of mystery," said Olson. "One of the characters is not exactly what they seem to be," he notes. "And if the actors do their jobs right, the audience will determine that."

Olson plans to add to the play's eerie quality by using a projector with special effects to create the backdrop for the action, rather than relying on a more traditional set.

A Christie Favorite

"And Then There Were None" is adapted from Christie's best-selling novel of the same name. It may be her most famous work and, by the author's own acknowledgement, it was one of her favorites.

According to Christie's own words on the official Agatha Christie website: "I had written the book because it was so difficult to do that the idea had fascinated me. Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious. I wrote the book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I had made of it. It was clear, straightforward, baffling, and yet had a perfectly reasonable explanation; in fact, it had to have an epilogue in order to explain it. It was well received and reviewed, but the person who was really pleased with it was myself, for I knew better than any critic how difficult it had been."

The play runs March 2-18. Curtain time on Friday and Saturday nights is 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets range from $13 (students and senior citizens) to $15 (adults) and can be purchased and printed online at fctstage.org or by calling 540-349-8760. A combination dinner/theater ticket ($35/$33) that includes a post-matinee meal at The Inn at Vint Hill is also available on March 11. FCT wishes to thank Discovery Publications for their sponsorship of this 9 performance run production. FCT wishes to thank Discovery Publications for their sponsorship of this 9 performance run production. 

Youth Director Search 

Thank you to GFWC Dominion Woman's Club for Sponsoring FCT's Summer Youth Showcase for two years in a row!! 

Serving longer than anyone else in recent times, Don Richardson is coming up on six years as FCT's President and Board Chairman.  He first came on the Board of Directors in 2005 and immediately took on the project of updating the by-laws.  He is distinguished by not only being adept at business and county politics, but also a talented thespian, long interested in community theatre.  Don is a System Administrator with Lockheed-Martin and has just finished a ten-year term as a member of the Prince William County School Board, representing Gainesville District. Don's home, where the bulk of FCT's costumes were recently stored, is in Haymarket. His wife, Ramona also frequently volunteers for FCT.

Don has been involved in community theatre since high school days in Livingston, NJ, where he shared the stage twice with Jason Alexander before becoming Seinfeld's sidekick on TV.  Don studied history at the University of Virginia, an interest that comes through on the stage; his first show with FCT was The Lion in Winter in 1995 where he played the future King Richard the Lion-Hearted. Since then our audiences saw him playing multiple roles in 1996's The Man Who Came to Dinner and as the frantic butler in its recent staging. But in 1997 Don stayed behind the scenes as stagehand in The Hound of the Baskervilles.   

In 1998 he played Frank Lubey in All My Sons, and in 2000 Don wore his own ancestral kilt in the musical, Brigadoon directed by Martha Lynch, as was 2002's 1776 when he portrayed president of Congress John Hancock, joined onstage by his son James and daughter Sarah; previously Don had played Thomas Jefferson's role (also previously, he had been onstage with James and Sarah in Fiddler On the Roof).  In 2007 he was the hilarious Teddy in Arsenic and Old Lace, charging up San Juan Hill to his bedroom and believing that he was digging the Panama Canal in the basement; previously he played the much saner Mortimer.  In 2008 he again teamed up with James as the off-beat, versatile Proteans in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and in 2009 took on a Russian accent as Boris Kolenkhov in You Can't Take It With You. Last year Don played another presidential role as FDR in the musical Annie.

Fauquier Community Theatre is fortunate to have such a capable, active leader who is equally at home on its stage.

By Henry Baxley   

And Then There Were None 

 (Formally known as Ten Little Indians) 

Directed by Scott D. Olson 

March 2-4, 9-11, 16-18 

Sponsored by Discovery Publications  

Dinner and Show

In this classic Agatha Christie whodunit, eight guests who have never met each other before are lured by a cryptic invitation to a deserted island and marooned, along with the two house servants. An odd cluster of statuettes - ten little soldiers - sits on the mantelpiece. A nursery rhyme embossed above them tells how each of the ten soldiers meets his death, "until there were none." As the group assembles for cocktails before dinner, a mysterious voice accuses each of having gotten away with murder - and then the group starts finding one of their own murdered one by one. Can the group discover the shocking identity of the murderer before there are no suspects remaining?  

Into the Woods  

May 4-6, 11-13, 18-20  

Sponsored by Airlie Conference Center 

An ambivalent Cinderella? A blood-thirsty Little Red Ridinghood? A Prince Charming with a roving eye? A Witch...who raps? They're all among the cockeyed characters in this fractured fairy tale. When a Baker and his Wife learn they've been cursed with childlessness by the Witch next door, they embark on a quest for the special objects required to break the spell, swindling, lying to and stealing from Cinderella, Little Red, Rapunzel and Jack (the one who climbed the beanstalk). Everyone's wish is granted at the end of Act One, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins a lively irreverent fantasy in the style of The Princess Bride becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.  

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