Mount Vernon High School drama will be presenting Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” this Sunday, Oct. 24. Show times are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Mount Vernon High School Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults.
Director Tom Stephens said the choice of this play was done to showcase a full traditional unit set on the PAC stage.
“Our designer, Brad Goetz, has done an amazing job,” Tom Stephens said. “I also like the show because it’s a classic murder mystery that has a great plot structure and keeps the audience guessing.”
The ability to switch from the types of events held on the PAC stage has been beneficial, but also provided some challenges for the actors, as the drama department had a quick turn around from their one act play earlier this school year to this show.
“That has made the production timeline much more compact, but it has also kept us all on our toes and allowed the students to push themselves in new ways,” Tom Stephens said.
There are several new company members this year, he said.
The show does contain mature and sensitive themes, including suicide and simulated gunshots.
Tessa Baty is serving as stage director for this play.
“”I’ve definitely learned a lot about the behind the scenes workings of productions,” Baty said. “It is easy, when you are acting in a play, to think that the set just appears or the props are easily attainable or the lights and sounds were pre-made. But the truth is that there are so many people and hours that go into making a show, many of whom you don’t get to see onstage.
“I hope that being AD/SM in this production has also helped me with my own acting ability as I’ve been able to see the bigger picture rather than being too close to the situation to see what needs to happen.”
Theatre is one of the activities Baty said she enjoys most, especially working with this group of people.
“The other thing I’ve really enjoyed from this activity has been watching people come out of their shells,” Baty said. “I have never acted as AD/SM before, but being able to see the growth made in each person’s character and how they portray the story has been amazing to watch.”
For Baty, the choice to stage manage this year was to explore different avenues of theatre since she was in high school.
Luke Stephens plays Captain Philip Lombard in the production, who he describes as a “suave, arrogant, and boisterous adventurer.”
“He is super fun to play because he’s constantly trying to be funny- and this is supposed to be a serious murder mystery,” Luke Stephens said.
One of the things that Luke has enjoyed in this production was the set arriving.
“It has been awhile since we’ve had a full unit set like the one for this show, and it really made rehearsals feel a lot more real and immersive,” Luke Stephens said. “I would like to say a huge thank you to Brad Goetz, our tech director for this show. He’s been so awesome from the first mock-up of the set to building and loading it in for us.”
This production has also helped Luke learn that critiques of a performance are there to help make the performances better, to give actors something to work on to make a performance better next time.
With rehearsals beginning in mid-September, actors have had a tight schedule to meet Sunday’s performances, which gave actors less time to learn lines or blocking, he said.
“People should come see this show because the cast of this show is fantastic- they’ve put in a lot of work, and they are fun to work with,” Luke said. “I’m so excited to get to perform with them.”
“People should come see this show because it is an absolutely thrilling murder mystery that keeps the audience on its toes while still sprinkling emotional intrigue into the mix,” Baty said. “These young men and women have worked tremendously hard to pull off a fantastic play.”
Lydia Benesh, Luke Stephens and Penelope Vig act in a scene later in And Then There Were None, as Stephens and Vig are counting bodies that have been discovered. The show is Sunday with curtain calls at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.