Local youth theatre charity, Youth Action Theatre (YAT)'s production of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None at Hampton Hill Theatre began last night (Wednesday, 29 October), and it was nothing short of spectacular; all the actors, particularly those among the main cast, presented acting skills you would expect to see on the West End.

Now I've never seen, read, or watched anything by Agatha Christie, but knowing that the play is set in 1939 Britain, I was not surprised that it would have some racist undertones.

However, given that YAT's production is being performed to a modern audience, I was pleased to find out that directors, Sarah Dowd and Lizzie Lattimore, decided to approach the piece through a "postcolonial lens".

In their Directors' Notes, the pair writes: "In revisiting the story today, we have been mindful of the complex and uncomfortable context from which it emerged.

"The original text reflects attitudes toward race, class, and gender that are abhorremt to us now but revealing of the world in which Christie wrote.

"Approaching this piece through a postcolonial lens has been challenging and illuminating in equal measure. It forced us to ask whether Christie was critiquing the society around her or complicit in it. Many scholars have debated this and we invite her audience to draw their own conclusions."

And Then There Were None follows the story of ten strangers, Rogers (Nathan Hall) Mrs Rogers (Bonny Ward), Vera Claythorne (Cara Bullimore), Phillip Lombard (Jonatahon Singer), Anthony Marston (Matthew Down), William Blore (Bryn Wilson), General Mackenzie (Amin Houta), Emily Brent (Freya Broe), Sir Lawrence Wargrave (Alfie Kennedy), and Dr. Armstrong (Hugo Allain) attending a party on the fictional Soldier Island supposedly hosted by Mr and Mrs Owen who never appear on stage.

The stage setting remains the same throughout the play, representing a glamorous, vintage living room with an opaque balcony overlooking the sea, which one could imagine a wealthy family in the 1930s would have owned.

I was amazed at how good the setting looked; it was very believable, and I could tell a lot of time and money would have been put into it as it boasted a real chandelier and lamps, regal sofas, and a fabulous balcony door.

The stage setting was incredible (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

The play begins with Fred Narracott (Cosmo Dearle), who seems to be working for the Owens and speaks with a great Devon accent (Soldier Island is inspired by Burgh Island which is off the coast of Devon) and Rogers welcoming the first party guest, Vera Claythorne.

Already, I could tell that this was going to be a good show as the costumes, hair and makeup, and skills of the three actors were incredible, with each actor authentically presenting people of that era.

And Hall, playing Rogers, depicted the perfect example of an awkward, bumbling servant that you see in many period shows.

Following the introduction, we are introduced to the rest of the cast one by one, with the character of William Blore pretending to be Mr Davies, a wealthy man from South Africa.

(From L to R) Jonathon Singer as Phillip Lombard, Hugo Allain as Dr. Armstrong, Amin Wad Houta as General Mackenzie, and Bryn Wilson as William Blore (Credit: Handwritten Photography)

Wilson did an excellent job of presenting the South African accent, and as we do not know at this point that Mr Davies is just a farce, I could see where the issues of racism might come into play; Davies eagerly introduces himself to every character and clearly does not fit in among the stereotypically British group.

Again, I cannot applaud the cast enough on how well they embodied each of their characters with Down (Anthony Marston) expertly mimicking the typical posh rich boy who likely attended Eton and Oxford and does not care about anyone but himself and Broe (Emily Brent) presenting the classic snobby upper class woman of her era; I loved how Broe continuously kept their nose up and pursed their lips throughout the play as though they believed they were better than everyone else.

I must also praise Bullmore (Vera Claythorne) and Singer (Phillip Lombard), who presented excellent sexual chemistry between each other to ultimately take over the mini love story that lingers amid the drama.

Cara Bullimore and Jonathon Singer were excellent as Vera Claythorne and Phillip Lombard (Credit: Handwritten Photography)

Moreover, Houta did such an excellent job at portraying an elderly army general that you would not believe that the actor is actually in their early 20s and Kennedy and Allain were super impressive at portraying a harsh and cynical judge and nerdy doctor.

During this time, we are also introduced to Mrs Rogers played by the wonderful Ward who wonderfully presented a humorous working-class maid whose nerves prove that she clearly has something to hide.

Nathan Hall and Bonny Ward played Mr and Mrs Rogers (Credit: Handwritten Photography)

As the story unveils, an air of mystery starts to brew – we start to question who the Owens are and whether they are real, and the characters each start dying one by one, akin to the lines of a nursery rhyme 'Ten Soldiers' and this is where the murder mystery begins.

A voiceover from a mysterious man reveals that each of the characters have been involved in a murder some how (though each character underplays their role in the murders), and it becomes clear that there is a murderer among the group, leaving the audience questioning who they think the culprit is.

Now, I had my suspicions, but this changed throughout the play, only for my first suspect to be revealed as the killer in the plot-twist ending, which I was very proud of myself for.

While the main focus of the play was on the murder mystery, YAT did an excellent job of exploring issues of racism, gender, and class.

The wealthier characters clearly dismiss Rogers and his wife, instantly accusing them as the murderers, and there are frequent sexist comments made by the male characters about women who believe that a woman clearly could not be smart enough to pull off such a scheme.

The issue of race and colonialism comes into play when Lombard (an army captain) explains how he killed several African natives while there, suggesting they are dangerous and wild beasts; an archetype typical of the time, which makes it difficult to decipher the directors' question as to whether Christie was exploiting the society around her or complicit in it.

However, I do believe that by creating sympathy towards Mr and Mrs Rogers and depicting Claythorne as the brave heroine of the play, she was clearly against the sexism and classism of her time, so it could be that she was against racism too.

Now I've not read the original version of And Then There Were None or seen the original plays, so I am not sure how racist Christie's version would have been, but I think YAT did an excellent job not to include any overly insulting quotes that would have made a modern audience feel uncomfortable.

It was the perfect balance of exploiting the issues of the time without encouraging them.

While the play, as a murder mystery, was slightly serious, I loved how there were various moments throughout that had the audience laughing out loud, especially from Brent, Marston, and Dr. Armstrong.

A special shout out also goes to the Witnesses played by Giothomson Nickson, Felix Patterson, Cosmo Dearle, and Kit Overd, who, although only having a small part to play, did an excellent job of playing the objective and almost lifeless witnesses.

While there a couple of mistakes made by the cast (Singer slipped on his lines a couple times, but expertly corrected himself in a distinct manner), It truly was a great start to four nights of the production and the perfect way to prepare the audience for Halloween.

YAT's production of And Then There Were None is running at Hampton Hill Theatre until Saturday, 1 November, and if you have not got a ticket yet, I strongly recommend you get one.

You can purchase a ticket here.