And Then There Were None

This year the Grenfell Dramatic Society festival production is ‘And Then There Were None’ (rights from Origin Theatrical). A play based on the fiction novel by Agatha Christie, it is Christie's best-selling novel making it the world's best-selling mystery ever. It is a murder mystery; ten people who had been complicit in the deaths of other human beings but either escaped notice or were not subject to punishment are lured on to an island. They are the only people on the island, and cannot escape due to the distance from the mainland and the inclement weather. Each guest is successively murdered. The play stars all local talent and is directed by Darryl Knapp.

The performance will be held in the Uniting Church Hall. The shows will be held at 7.30pm on Sunday June 9th and at 2pm on Monday June 10th and again the following weekend at 7.30pm Saturday June 15th and at 2pm on Sunday June 16th.

Tickets cost $15 per person which includes supper and tickets are available from CJ Andersons in Main Street or by calling 02 6343 1610. 

Previous Years - Dangerous Corner 

In 2012, the Grenfell Dramatic Society reverted to the format of the traditional three-act play for its Lawson Festival offering, with its presentation of “Dangerous Corner”, by the Yorkshire playwright, J.B. Priestley. Although it is 80 years since its first production, in London, it is a lively, well-crafted work with contemporary significance – is it sometimes better to let sleeping dogs lie, than to go ferreting single-mindedly for the truth?

All seven characters in the drama were well-drawn and believable, the dialogue crackled and the action never flagged. Priestley, in several of his plays, most notably “Time and the Conways”, fiddled with the concept of Time Distortion, and the result, in this story, will have you speculating “…now, what if…?”

This was Dramatic Society President Peter Soley’s first time as a director, with Darryl Knapp as his assistant, set designer and producer. Denise Yates made a welcome return to the boards as the vibrant Freda; regular audiences will remember her excellent performance in “Witness for the Prosecution” some years ago. In this play, it was a radical change of pace for Belinda Wilson, as the introspective Kathryn, and Marion Knapp, playing the apparently insouciant Betty, both last seen in the Society’s Pantomime last November, but they are relishing the challenge. Cherylene Miller had the role of the novelist, Miss Mockridge, whose probing kick-starts the plot into action.

The three men in the cast, despite their youth, could all be termed Dramatic Society Stalwarts by now. David Knapp is the upright, rather stuffy Robert, Jesse Friend his young brother-in-law, Gordon, and Peter Cochrane their business partner, the enigmatic Charles.