Review: Eikä yksikään pelastunut
And not one was saved!
Agatha Christie’s play And None Was Saved premiered on the Arena stage of the Helsinki City Theatre on 29 January. The original book has been called the best detective novel in the world.
As a big fan of detective stories, I was waiting for the play like the moon rises!
Briefly about And None Was Saved
In 1939, Agatha Christie wrote Ten Little Niggers / And Then There Were None. The Finnish translation has changed its name several times. It was first published in 1940 under the title And None Were Saved. In 1968, the title of the work was changed to Ten Little Negro Boys, until the name was changed back to And None Were Saved in 2003. Agatha Christie adapted the novel into a play in 1943, the ending of which differs from the original work.
The plot is succinct: Eight people are invited to vacation on an island off the coast of Devon. At the master’s behest, after dinner, the servants play a record on the gramophone, in which everyone present is accused of murder. During the visit, the invited guests are murdered one after the other in the most imaginative ways.
The book is one of the best-known mysteries of a closed room, where the crime takes place in an isolated place and the culprit must be one of a relatively small group. The plot of the book is based on an English nursery rhyme. The play by the Helsinki City Theatre follows the original ending of the novel.
Eight little soldier boys set out to seek their fortune, one when he stayed on that road, the group was reduced to seven…
First of all, credit must be given to the set design of the play, the art deco-style salon nicely frames the story written by Christie in the 1930s. The costumes are also excellent, especially the character of General Mackenzie, played by Jari Pehkonen , seems to be straight from the era. In addition, cinematic music and sound effects increase the rising tension and create a real sense of danger in the hall.
The play has a lot of characters, as almost all of Christie’s works do. At the beginning, the viewer’s attention goes to internalizing each character, and before you know it, the first bodies are already on stage.
It’s great how both veteran actors and younger actors have been attached to the play. Santeri Kinnunen William Blorena is airy and intense. Vera Claythorne, played by Anna Ackerma , is responsible for the most physical role in the entire play, and at the end, she captures the despair that a person in a similar situation goes through.
The Helsinki City Theatre’s play And None Was Saved has also been written with hilarious humour, which is taken care of by the strict old maid Emily Brent, played by Heidi Herala . Opinions from almost 100 years ago are already quite amusing these days.
And None of the Saved plays offers its viewer psychological tension in a wonderful setting. If the story is not familiar, the ending will surprise the viewer completely.
Review in the Himomatkajan turinoita blog.