The Hollow was adapted by Agatha Christie from her own novel and is a typical country-house murder mystery. Everything seems to be present and correct – the murder victim whom almost everyone has a motive to do away with, the eccentric aristocrats, the romantic entanglements, and, of course, the red herrings (in this case, actually a lobster, but still most definitely red).
The play itself suffers from the usual Christie weaknesses of occasionally clunky dialogue and somewhat two-dimensional characters. This is particularly evident in the first half, in which everyone’s back-stories and motives need to be set up before we get to the murder. It is therefore to the great credit of first-time director Hannah Barnes and her cast that what could have been slow and awkward is in fact an extremely enjoyable and engaging production.
The cast are excellent throughout, with even the smaller parts – often a weakness of amateur productions – performed extremely well. Of particular note was Kath Leighton’s delightfully dotty Lady Angkatell, who perfectly captures the ambiguity necessary for a whodunit – is she really that batty, or is she a cold-hearted killer underneath?
If there was one weakness of the production, it was the decision – perfectly in keeping with the period – of having the main characters smoke heavily. This led to some unconvincing lighting and smoking of (fake) cigarettes, which did not seem to materially affect the plot and could probably have been omitted with only minor tweaking of the script.
This is, however, a very small quibble. If you find yourself near Abingdon and want to pit your wits against Scotland Yard’s finest – not to mention Mrs Christie’s devious plotting – The Hollow makes for a splendid evening’s entertainment.
The play itself suffers from the usual Christie weaknesses of occasionally clunky dialogue and somewhat two-dimensional characters. This is particularly evident in the first half, in which everyone’s back-stories and motives need to be set up before we get to the murder. It is therefore to the great credit of first-time director Hannah Barnes and her cast that what could have been slow and awkward is in fact an extremely enjoyable and engaging production.
The cast are excellent throughout, with even the smaller parts – often a weakness of amateur productions – performed extremely well. Of particular note was Kath Leighton’s delightfully dotty Lady Angkatell, who perfectly captures the ambiguity necessary for a whodunit – is she really that batty, or is she a cold-hearted killer underneath?
If there was one weakness of the production, it was the decision – perfectly in keeping with the period – of having the main characters smoke heavily. This led to some unconvincing lighting and smoking of (fake) cigarettes, which did not seem to materially affect the plot and could probably have been omitted with only minor tweaking of the script.
This is, however, a very small quibble. If you find yourself near Abingdon and want to pit your wits against Scotland Yard’s finest – not to mention Mrs Christie’s devious plotting – The Hollow makes for a splendid evening’s entertainment.