The dwindling cast of And Then There Were None includes Tony Nam (William Blore), Bruce Randolph Nelson (Rogers), Helen Hedman (Mrs. Rogers), Benairan Kane (Anthony Marston), Megan Anderson (Dr. Armstrong) and Hannah Kelly (Vera Claythorne). The Agatha Christie thriller runs at Everyman Theatre through Jan. 12. Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography

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Nothing brings home the joy and tidings of the holiday season quite like a good murder mystery. 

Baltimore’s Everyman Theatre is bringing audiences just that with their current production of master mystery writer Agatha Christie’s bestselling novel And Then There Were None, now running through January 12. 

Christie, the queen of crime, brought her delightfully poisoned pen to paper with prolific aplomb. There are 66 detective novels to her credit. Thanks to Christie, characters like Mrs. Marple and Hercule Poirot became household names. 

However, with her 1939 book, And Then There Were None — the only one of Christie’s novels she adapted for the stage herself — you’ll find no fastidious Belgian or tweed-clad septuagenarian sleuths. There’s not a single Sherlockian detective of any kind, making it unique, or at least non-traditional, in the murder mystery genre. 

But that’s all part of the fun of director Noah Himmelstein’s production, featuring the Everyman’s renowned ensemble cast, including local favorites Megan Anderson (Dr. Armstrong), Deborah Hazlett (Emily Brent) and Bruce Randolph Nelson (Rogers), among others. 

A Bond villain setting 

The plot involves 10 people who have all received an invitation from one “U.N. Owen” (read: unknown) to visit what might pass for a villain’s lair in a modern Bond movie: a resort-style mansion dropped atop Soldier Island, an isolated rock near the Devon Coast of England.  

After introductions are made, a record is put on the gramophone. A dark, sonorous voice announces that everyone in the room has committed murder and will, that weekend, receive their final judgment. 

Now here’s where the “willingness to suspend one’s disbelief” comes into play. Over the course of the next two hours, the ensemble members are picked off, one by one — by axe, drugs, knife, bullet, poison and the like.  

But somehow no one witnesses the actual deeds, with nary a lapel or blouse splashed with blood. Nor does anyone notice who snatches each corresponding white clay figurine from the set of 10 atop the mantelpiece at curtain’s rise. 

But who cares? A good whodunit isn’t about verisimilitude; it’s about the mystery itself. And this one unfolds like the petals of a rose (or perhaps, in this case, a Venus fly trap) as each character reveals more about their past, suspicions rise, personalities clash, and English accents volley across the stage. 

Humor, intrigue and a twist 

A work of this type is surely “comfort food” for the actors, as no heavy lifting is required of them. The characters don’t develop; they simply are. Without a protagonist, the play’s true star is the plot, with its many surprises and revelations. 

Benairen Kane’s hot-rodding Anthony Marston, James J. Johnson’s addled aging British general, Hannah Kelly’s lovely English secretary, Tony Nam’s less-than-brilliant cop, James Whalen’s commanding judge, Danny Gavigan’s adventurous young soldier, Deborah Hazlett’s judgmental crone, Megan Anderson’s quackish surgeon, and Nelson and Helen Hedman’s “Upstairs, Downstairs” butler and cook duo all deliver their one-note roles with convincing clarity and humor.    

For the 1943 play, Christie adjusted the book’s grim ending, in which no one survives, and spared two characters. In introducing this production, artistic director and Everyman founder Vincent M. Lancisi noted that Christie allowed theater companies the option between two final acts: one dark, one “a bit crazy,” he said.  

Everyman’s ending combines a bit of both. Without giving away too much, the final reveal is really the best part of the play.  

Kudos to the creative team, particularly Harold F. Burgess II, Sun Hee Kil, David Burdick and Paige Hathaway, for crafting a pitch-perfect tone through light, sound, thread, wood and canvas.  

Christie herself would undoubtedly declare, in English fashion, “Good show!”   

Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None continues its run throughout the holidays at the Everyman Theatre, located at 315 W. Fayette Street in the heart of West Baltimore’s historic Bromo Arts District. Tickets start at $45. Contact the box office at boxoffice@everymantheatre.org or call (410) 752-2208.