The Ottawa Little Theatre (OLT) is currently playing And Then There Were None. If you know your Agatha Christie, you will love the alternate ending. If this is all new to you, pack your bags. It’s only a short trip to the island.
Agatha Christie’s classic closed room murder mystery began as a book―the world’s best-selling mystery novel and one of the best-selling books of all time. The OLT’s director for And Then There Were None, Venetia Lawless, sat down with me to discuss.
Scene from And Then There Were None. Photo provided.
“It’s a little bit of classic theatre,” Lawless says, “but in a very contemporary and hospitable place.”
And Then There Were None opened on stage in the U.K. in 1943 and some of the content is dated, but it doesn’t feel antique. Lawless agrees, “What I’m trying to do is to dust it off and to breathe some new life in it, to make it a little bit more accessible and contemporary.”
Scene from And Then There Were None. Photo provided.
There’s also a difference between the book and the original play.
“The novel is pretty dark,” Lawless explains. “As you can imagine, the world was pretty upside down in 1943 in England. [Christie] recognized the sensibilities of her audience at the time, and so she changed the ending [of the play].”
The ending was more optimistic than the book, but that changed in 2015 when Christie’s grandson commissioned a version of the play that followed the book more closely.
Scene from And Then There Were None. Photo provided.
“So we’ve added two performances,” Lawless tells me. “And we are making very clear, this is a different ending, and we would recommend… adult accompaniment… there’s actual depiction of seeming suicide and there’s some content warnings and trigger warnings.”
“The play is really about informal justice, almost vigilante justice.” – Venetia Lawless, director
The production follows ten strangers to an island off the coast of Devon, each invited there by letter for different reasons, where their host is strangely absent. They discover they only have one thing in common. Then death comes calling.
Scene from And Then There Were None. Photo provided.
I read And Then There Were None last year and loved it. I was totally baffled by the mystery right to the end. The OLT production was my first time seeing the play, and I saw it with the original (1943) ending. It was fantastic. The set is beautiful and gives a sense of sweeping depth. The cast are fabulous and wonderfully coordinated. The dialogue is snappy, and the action feels real.
“Casting is obviously so critical,” Lawless says. “It’s like 90 per cent of your key to success: your design team and pulling together people who are creative and collaborative and who you can work well with. The team is so essential.”
Scene from And Then There Were None. Photo provided.
“I had such a good time [co-]directing Murder on the Orient Express that I was keen to do another Agatha Christie,” Lawless says. That 2024 OLT production was nominated for eleven awards and won four at the Eastern Ontario Drama League. It speaks to the skill and dedication of the OLT team and the mighty capabilities of this small community theatre.
“The quality of productions that we put on are extremely high… And our sound system. It’s big sound. We’re really able to make the experience a very immersive full experience.”
I agree 100 per cent.
And Then There Were None is playing at the Ottawa Little Theatre until May 24, 2025, Wednesdays to Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:30pm. Catch the dark alternate ending* on May 13 or May 20, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. Get your tickets here.
*Warning: Adult Accompaniment recommended for these two performances
