There are other reviews under the Yelp shorter title of Richland players. They should be…read moreconsolidated.
Richland Players performance of "And Then There Were None".
My wife and I attended the Richland Players' performance of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" last night, 9/16/2023.
The theater is very nice, especially for a small amateur company. It is clean and well appointed. The décor shows clever use of budget giving it the feel, amenities and ambiance of a large commercial theater without chintzing on anything, including on-going maintenance - often overlooked by similar organizations. My hat off to those who designed and executed it. It looks very professional. The layout is practical and inviting including a bar in the pleasant open lobby area, offering a limited selection of refreshments and snack items that still cover the range of what you might expect to access for pre-show and intermissions. Overall, they have very efficiently achieved an impressive venue, with a large number of enthusiastic volunteers supporting it in every role.
As to the performance, one has to take into account that this is an amateur theatrical company and it is unreasonable to expect profession perfection. In "And Then There Were None" they took on a complex and unusual subject about justice and fairness with a psychological twist and they executed petty well overall. Scenery and lighting, etc. were extremely well executed. We enjoyed the play but there were some disappointments.
It was difficult to hear and understand some of the actors much of the time (we were seated only about half way back in the auditorium). In fact, I would estimate that we missed at least 25% of the total dialogue. Many other audience members had the same complaint. In fact, some left during the first of the two intermissions because of it. The majority of the problems were accounted for by several of the actors. But they are mostly the director's responsibility. She should have coached them to overcome these very obvious deficiencies. It is difficult to imagine her sitting through a dress rehearsal and not noticing and correcting them as the audience certainly did. Granted, some of the cast have much more experience in this medium and it showed.
The actors playing Thomas Rogers, Fred Narracott (also responsible for the excellent set) and occasionally Dr. Edward Armstrong, need learn to speak up (did I mention speak up?), slow down and annunciate more clearly. They and Miss Vera Claythorne also need to learnt to speak to the audience, not the back of the stage. The others generally did well in that regard, with Inspector Blore being a standout. Unfortunately, while getting convincingly into the character and content of her performance, Miss Clayborne, especially during the critical emotional closing scene, uttered much of her lines in a high pitched, garbled machine gun stream that was completely incomprehensible. On the other hand, Mr. Justice Lawrence Wargrave's performance was overly dramatic, including his lines, which though certainly loud were very hard to decipher at times. He seemed to be over emphasizing his interpretation of his character and accent. He needs to tone it down a little to a more natural level. However, he definitely had good subtle acting stage presence when he was not the center of attention, while some others tended to just sit or stand motionless until it was their turn to speak or take an action. As to the rest of the actors and performances, they, or in the case of those specifically mentioned the rest of the time, did a solid well execute job certainly demonstrating their enthusiasm.
Obviously, amateurs are not trained professionals and often have much to learn. It is easy to forget things up on stage in front of an audience trying to remember your lines, cues, actions, etc., (been there, done that). But as I previously mentioned, the vast majority of the issues are solidly the responsibility of the director. It is her job to direct the actors and teach and guide them in how to perform their roles. So, she has much to learn in her craft too. But I hope and anticipate that further performances of the play will show marked improvement.
Overall, we enjoyed the performance and theater in general, but did come away with some disappointments. Given that this is an amateur group, I give the venue 5 stars and I still give the performance 4 stars, which with some work, could easily be raised to 5. I would certainly recommend it for a very pleasant and different evening out in Tri Cities. It is definitely a treat to be able to enjoy live theater like this outside of major metropolitan areas. We will certainly be looking forward to attending some of their other performance in future - notably "Silvia" by A.R. Gurney in January, also an interesting and unusual play.
