Preview: There were none left at the Alley Theatre

Decades before television began its Survivor In the reality TV competition was British author Agatha Christie, the prolific writer of mystery novels and plays whose works often featured isolated settings and an ever-increasing number of bodies.

The Alley Theatre has once again drawn on the almost infinite wealth of material left by Christie to present the classic play And then there were none left (1943) based on his 1939 book of the same title as the title of this year’s Summer Chills column.

Alley company member Elizabeth Bunch plays Mrs. Rogers, one of 10 strangers gathered on a remote island, staying in a cliffside house. Everyone has secrets and regrets. “She’s a fun character because she’s very reactive.”

Bunch was surprised by the similarities between And then there were none left and the room Hint by Sandy Ruston that The Alley made just two summers ago. Hint, partly a kitsch parody, was based partly on the board game Clue which itself was based partly on And then there were none left.

A veteran of several Summer Chills, Bunch said And then there were none left She takes a different tone. “It’s definitely different from the Agatha Christie plays I’ve done before. It’s a little darker and a little scarier.” While other Agatha Christie plays seem more character-driven, this one is more interested in guilt and psychosis, she said.

But some common patterns emerge. Christie often liked to add to the mysterious pressure of his work by placing his figures in isolated settings. Death on the Nile they were on a boat. Murder on the Orient Express it was a train. The unexpected guestA motorist drives up to a (isolated!) house and finds himself more or less trapped by bad weather. The mysterious affair of styles takes place in an isolated country manor.

The ten strangers have been invited to a remote island by a mysterious and absent host. The host, Mr. Owen, accuses each of them of murder.

Christie never cheated in her books or her plays, and that’s a big part of her appeal, Bunch said. “She’ll give you red herrings. But she doesn’t cheat by leaving things out. How can you not be engaged? There’s an answer, there’s something to be resolved.”

“Watching these plays is a game. That’s what I always like. She doesn’t cheat. She gives you the clues to the game. You have a good chance of solving it.”

Other cast members include Resident Acting Company members Dylan Godwin as Philip Lombard, Chris Hutchison as Dr. Armstrong, Melissa Molano as Vera Claythorne, David Rainey as Sir Lawrence Wargrave, Christopher Salazar as William Blore and Todd Waite as General MacKenzie.

Also, Susan Koozin (House Photos, Lend Me A Soprano by Ken Ludwig, Clue) like Emily Brent, Spencer Plachy (The Man Who Came to Dinner) like Rogers and Gabriel Regojo (Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility) as Fred Narracott/Anthony Marston. Elizabeth Williamson (artistic director of the Geva Theatre in New York) directs

“There’s a lot of prep work” on the part of the actors and director, Bunch says. That’s because Christie sometimes has “little holes” in her stories that the production has to fill, Bunch says. And Christie demands that even if you’re not the main villain, if your character has negative aspects, “you have to be willing to show the ugliness,” she says.

All of this “engages us as actors. We are all Sherlock Holmes. We work with the director to make sure all the holes are covered. These shows are not just trap doors and rain walls. They are people talking to each other and working on a problem.”

In addition to the fun opportunity to solve a murder mystery, Summer Chills offers audiences an added benefit, Bunch said.

“I think people are always happy to get out of the summer heat and see people in sweaters and tweed vests,”

Performances will continue through September 1, with the premiere on July 24. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Alley Theatre, 615 Texas. For more information, call 713-220-5700 or visit alleytheatre.org. $32 to $110.