Cast
(in order of appearance)
Rogers Kevin McGrath
Mrs. Rogers Therese Harrold
Fred Narracott David Swain
Vera Claythorne Alison
Laker
Philip Lombard Rob Pold
Anthony Marston George
McArdle
William Blore Terry Locke
General MacKenzie Jon Mills
Emily Brent Carolyn Redding
Sir Lawrence Wargrave Denny
Wise
Dr. Armstrong Jim Hannigan
Dramaturg's
Diary
By Bonnie Hilton
About
Agatha Christie
Born in 1890, Agatha Christie enjoyed a
very comfortable childhood, rich with opportunities
for the development of her imagination.
Extremely shy, her parents had her schooled
at home. She immersed herself in music,
theatre and poetry and became a voracious
reader, often reading the same novels over
and over again. Upon the death of her father,
her mother took her on a year vacation to
Cairo, and then moved to Paris, enrolling
her in a finishing school.
Agatha fell into mystery writing quite
by accident. Harboring a strong ambition
to be a poet, she sent submission after
submission to publishers, only to receive
rejection letters. One publisher said she
had a great talent for dialogue, but she
must stop "moralizing." It was
not until after she married Archibald Christie
in 1914, and while she was learning all
about poisons as she worked in the hospital
dispensary during the war that she took
her sister up on a dare to write a mystery.
The result was A Mysterious Affair at Styles
featuring Mr. Hercule Poirot. The book took
five years to fall into the hands of a publisher
who would agree to print it. The year was
1921 and she was 30. A naivety about how
to negotiate contracts caused her to earn
only 26 pounds. She would make 10% royalty
on any books sold over 2000. It sold a scant
2000 copies.
Shortly after giving birth to her only
child Rosalind, her marriage began to crumble.
Admidst this crisis, Agatha disappeared
for 11 days. No one knows what really happened,
but theories abound as to whether it was
a publicity stunt or indicative of a nervous
breakdown. The ensuing excitement surrounding
the massive search for her caused sales
of her books to skyrocket. Five years after
her divorce she met Max Malloran an archeologist,
15 years her junior. Their romance blossomed
on the Orient Express. They were married
46 years.
By her death in 1976, Agatha Christie had
become the first author after George Bernard
Shaw and H.G. Wells to have a million paperback
copies of her books published in one day.
Worldwide sales of her books, translated
into 103 languages, reached to half a billion
copies, second only to the Bible.
Since then over two billion of her books
have been sold, mostly mysteries, but also
including her short stories, six romantic
novels, a collection of poetry and an autobiography.
This from a woman who shunned publicity,
typed all her novels onto an old typewriter
using three fingers, and who claimed to
get most of her ideas taking a walk or eating
an apple in the bath.
About Ten
Little Indians
The name Ten Little Indians is reminiscent
of a Victorian music hall song written in
1869 by Englishman Frank Green, who in turn
adapted it from the American song Ten Little
Indians written by Septimus Winner, published
in 1869. The complete song is included in
Chapter 2 of the novel.
The play Ten Little Indians was adapted
for the stage by Agatha Christie from the
original mystery, entitled Ten Little Niggers
published in 1939 by a London publisher.
In the United States, the book was published
under the name And Then There Were None.
Agatha Christie's stage adaptation opened
in London in 1943, and at the Broadhurst
Theatre in New York City on June 27, 1944.
Over the years, the play has also been produced
under the name And Then There Were None,
and it even toured as a musical called Something's
Afoot.
Acknowledgements
Produced with special permission from
Samuel French, Inc.
The Fruit Store, Western Springs and
Hinsdale, for providing apple cider at
cost with free delivery.
The Theatre of Western Springs is saying
farewell to Tony Vezner who has been Artistic
Director for six years. He has directed
dozens of fine plays, both Forum and Mainstage,
within that time, and audiences as well
as actors appreciated his sense of humor,
energy and knowledge. As Tony goes forward
to many wonderful challenges and experiences,
the theatre offers him appreciation and
gratitude for his time and energy at TWS
and very best wishes for every success.
- The TWS Board of Governors
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Cast and Crew
(Click for a larger view)
Production Credits
Director Tony Vezner
Assistant Director Judy DiVita
Technical Director Troy Lee Brasuell,
Jr.
Stage Manager Judy DiVita
Assistant Stage Manager Jane Bowers
Costume Designer Linda Bremer
Costume Crew Peggy Carlson, Mary
Dempsey, Sabina Nelson, Carmel Opre, Donna
Sauers, Jane Stacy, Dorothy Tressler
Dramaturg Bonnie Hilton
Hospitality Chair Carol Clarke
Hospitality Crew Karen Arnold, Catherine
Bloomer, Carole Borg, Ruth Cekal, Mary Clarke,
Mike DeKovic, Bill Fanning, Terry Fanning,
Mark Favoino, Bill FitzGerald, Iya Goshinsky,
Bonnie Hilton, Lydia Hilton, Karen Holbert,
Carol Hudson, Dennis Hudson, Angelee Favoino,
Jo Jones, Bruce Larson, Lynn Larson, Cassandra
Johnson Locke, Bill Love, Joyce Love, Nancy
Martin, Debby Mills, Roxanne Moreno, Norma
Naselli, Rick Pavia, Katie Pecis, Joe Petrolis,
Matt Rafferty, Pat Rafferty, Pat Roeder,
Irv Sarussi, Paulette Sarussi, Carol Suda,
Gregg Valek, Susan Waldschmidt, Gini Welch
Lighting Designer Sue Kuehnhold
Lighting Crew Katie Pecis, Betsy
Stiles
Makeup Designers Peg Callaghan,
Ginny Richardson
Makeup Crew Stephanie Abramowitz, Linda
Auer,
Karen Casey, Julie Knoch, Amanda Ragan,
Fred Sauers, Sara Torrey, Charron Traut
Properties Designers Darla Goudeau,
Arlene Page
Properties Crew Linda Bugielski
,Peggy Carlson, Nick D'Asta, Lori D'Asta,
Iya Goshchinsky, Sue Hannigan, Bonnie Hilton,
James Pusztay, Matt Rafferty, Debbie Sampson,
Liz Steele, Sue Turner,
Jackie Weiher
Set Construction Chair Mark Hewitt
Set Construction Crew Grace Abrahamson,
John Allen, Anne Cahill, Joe Delaloye, Geroge
Dempsey, Mike Huth, Heinz Karplus, Paul
Roach, Bill Rotz, Fred Sauers, Peter Sonnenberg
Set Designer Jack Calvert
Set Dressing Mary O'Dowd
Set Painting Chairs Linda Lee Metz,
Betsy Stiles
Set Painting Crew Grace Abrahamson,
Lori D'Asta, Nick D'Asta,Stephanie Bullwinkel,
Peggy Carlson, Carol Clarke,Tim Feeney,
Tom Frohnapfel, Stacie Heintze, Jo Jones,
Amanda Ragan, Bill Rotz, Debbie Sampson,
Ben Schaefer, Rob Snyder, Sandy Squillo,
Sue Turner, Alex Walczak
Sound Designer Bryon Abramowitz
Sound Crew Cassandra Johnson Locke,
Betsy Stiles
Box Office Chair Mary Ellen Schutt
Box Office Crew Alison Burkhardt,
Susan Cardamone, Kelli Kubick, Roxanne Moreno,
Marilyn Wilson
House Manager Chair Bill Wilson
House Managers Jack Calvert, Susan
Cardamone, Joe Delaloye, Mike DeKovic, George
Dempsey Roland Imes, Mike Mallon
Front Row Center flyer Joe Petrolis
Group Sales Chair Ceri Hartnett
Poster Distribution Kathleen Kusper
Production Coordinator Karen Holbert
Program Advertising Cheri Campbell
Publicity Chair Bonnie Hilton
Program Editor Bonnie Hilton
Program Crew Alison Burkhardt, Cheri
Campbell
Website Judy DiVita
Director
Corner
by Tony Vezner
DIRECTOR'S CORNER
By Tony Vezner
"Farewells do not come easily for
me. This one is particularly difficult.
In the past six years I truly have enjoyed
getting to know you. Entertaining you has
been my pleasure. You have been an extraordinarily
loyal audience and I will be ever grateful
for the warmth with which you greeted me
into this theatre and for the support you
have shown both me and my family. Your letters
of appreciation and words of encouragement
made my work a labor of love and I will
long remember your smiling faces and the
rich sound of your laughter. You have been
a discerning audience, letting me know when
we hit the mark and when you expected more.
On those occasions when you gave a standing
ovation to a performance, I knew we had
touched you in a special way and reached
a new benchmark of quality. Your obvious
appreciation made all my efforts worthwhile
and that is what I will remember.
I wish the Theatre of Western Springs good
fortune as it charts its new course and,
with a heavy heart, I bid you all farewell."
The above text is taken, almost verbatim,
from Ronn Toebaas' farewell to you in April
of 1998. I use this because I find his sentiments
and thoughts ring true for me as well.
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