Dwindling numbers on a Felpham stage...

John is masterminding their production of Dame Agatha’s And Then There Were None at Felpham Village Hall.

Ten strangers are all invited to an isolated house on Soldier Island, off the coast of Devon. Not long after their arrival, a mysterious voice accuses each of them of murder.

Despite their denials, it seems they are all hiding secrets, and as the night closes in and the weather worsens, the ten soon become nine, and then eight, then seven and so on until then there were none...

Director John is promising a twist as fine as any you will see in the theatre, right up there with The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense.

“We are playing it when it was set,” says John, recognising that a transfer to the modern era of mobile phones would be the death of the play by the end of the first act.

“It was written just after the war, and we are setting it just a little bit pre-war. It gives it a certain edge.”

John declares himself a huge Agatha Christie fan, with several Christies already to his directing credit, including The Unexpected Guest: “I love the plays.”

He admits that sometimes Christie doesn’t fit in with today’s love of an instant fix. Chrisite prefers to build. And sadly, as he says, Christies are often met with a degree of snobbery from the theatrical establishment.

But with And Then There Were None, he’s convinced he’s got a theatrical cracker: “The audience are going to be paying for the whole of their seat, but they will end up only using the edge!”

The play runs from Wednesday, December 7-Saturday, December 10 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the Felpham Post Office or by phoning the box office on telephone number 08456 806159. Tickets are £9, although members and friends are allowed two tickets each at the discounted price of £7.