Overcoming the setbacks of recent ice days as well as challenging script and performance components, the theater program successfully performed its winter play, And Then There Were None, on the evenings of March 1-3.

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie, the plot of the production centers on a group of varying individuals who were mysteriously brought to an island, but quickly find themselves in the midst of a homicidal maniac.

From the outset, the cast intended to hold themselves accountable at each rehearsal in order to put on the best possible production they could.

“Everyone [in the cast] expected a little more out of themselves and [director Jason] Hagg expected a little more out of us,” said senior Zac Matthew, who played the role of adventurer Philip Lombard in the production. “We had to have our lines done really early, and I think it showed on stage.”

Matthew sees theater productions as means to induce emotions that are rarely experienced on a daily basis, and he hoped that his performance in And Then There Were None was able to achieve that for the audience.

“I like to make people feel something other than boredom or frustration, which is something they go through most of their day,” Matthew added. “I want them to be able to come to a show and feel excited or sad, even, or thrilled … It makes me happy to see that.”

During the production, which was set on an island off the coast of the British mainland, each actor and actress had to speak with an English accent, a task that proved very difficult for senior Jack Torline.

“The accents were really hard for me. I just don’t have an ear for them, but … every rehearsal, you could only talk in the accent,” said Torline, who played the role of Sir Lawrence Wargrave, a judge. “It helped a lot because you’re surrounded by other people doing the same thing, so that helped bring it all together.”

In addition to the work done by the cast, director Jason Hagg also noted the excellent work done on the set design by senior Sam Carlson, who constructed an elaborate house design complete with multiple rooms and floors, despite numerous snow days in the midst of production.

“Unbelievable,” Hagg added when describing the work of Carlson. “[It’s] the best set design I’ve ever seen a kid do.”

The theater program’s next production will be the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in May, the final of the year.