And Then There Were None

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Description

The Iowa City Community Theatre will present And Then There Were None, a suspenseful mystery written by the best-selling author Agatha Christie.

Christie’s brilliant writing weaves the story strategically into a twisted plot that leaves the audience tripped up, pointing the blame in all the wrong places. The play is based on the 1939 book, formerly titled "Ten Little Indians."

Award-winning director and active member of the community Patti Mott will be directing the play. Mott has been involved in theatre since she was three, once captivated by her father’s love for the arts. Surprisingly enough, at a young age she did not think she was going to be a director. Mott has been an actress and a costume designer, and has started many theatre productions across Iowa City. She directed her first play at City High, and graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Theatre Arts. Mott finds the process and growth of a play to be the most fulfilling and enjoyable part about directing. She describes Christie’s play And Then There Were None as never boring and “different from all the mysteries we know and love…[it] keeps the audience engaged until the very last scene.”

The story takes place in 1944, on an island off Devon in Southwest England. An interesting assortment of people with different backgrounds receive an invitation from an anonymous source to spend the weekend at the luxurious mansion that was once built for the famous Lily Logan. Johnny Brewer, a millionaire who fell madly in love with Lily, wanted to seclude her away from everyone else. He confined her to this island and cut her off from the rest of the world. With no telephone, no communication, and no way out, Lily couldn’t bear being away from the city, so she left Brewer. Heartbroken, he went back to Wall Street, and the mansion he once built for his love was sold.

As each guest arrives, they gather around at dinner to realize that each has no idea why they have been invited, or who invited them. They become even more suspicious when they realize that a storm is on its way and any chance of leaving the island has been completely dashed. With no telephone or source of communication with the outside world, the apprehensions begin to rise when the guests feel as if they’ve been trapped here on this island for a reason. While you may question what could be so bad about being stranded at a lavish mansion, Christie’s real mystery begins.
Once the plot begins to unfold, the guests realize that there is no chance of escape and the only way to protect themselves is by not trusting anybody. The story takes an eerie turn when the characters realize that they were invited to this mansion to die. The tension between the guests grows, making them paranoid and painfully nervous, asking the obvious question: Who done it? Cautiously they stare at the mantel where ten statues stand, each representing a guest and their life that is at stake. This 3 act play will leave the audience gripping the edge of their seats along with the characters, wondering what will happen next.

Director Patti Mott and the ICCT want to give a special thanks to the Senior Citizen Center for their gratitude and for providing a rehearsal place every day of the week for the entire cast and crew and the Englert Theatre for their support and partnership in the production of the play providing us with so much help in our publicity of this production. Mott would also like to acknowledge the cast for their extraordinary talent. She enthusiastically describes it as “kind of a dream to get set a wonderful cast and crew of people that mold together so beautifully.”