Stage Review - And Then There Were None (Centerstage Theatre)

Stage Review - And Then There Were None
Presented By: Centerstage Theatre - Federal Way, WA
Show Run: January 30 - February 22 2026
Date Reviewed: Friday, January 30, 2026 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 2 Hours (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed by: Sameer Arshad

Agatha Christie’s classic murder-mystery novel from 1939 was first adapted for the Broadway stage in 1943. But in 2026, we now have this delightful production of it in Federal Way, that arrives at a prescient time. A story about extra-judicial murder, based on over-suspicion and self-righteous bloodlust, is quite the socially-relevant story for these troubled times we live in.

Welcome to Soldier Island, where ten people with dark pasts have been brought to a large empty house overlooking the water, under false pretenses, in order for a murderer to slowly kill them off one by one. As various characters get killed off one by one without revealing “whodunnit”, we follow the psychological journeys of the surviving characters as they reflect upon their actions, their regrets, their sense of justice and their own morals. Director Niclas Olson, with technical brilliance, brings suspense, horror, humor and all the thrills, with the help of a large experienced cast that know exactly what they are doing.

But who is the killer?

Varun Kainth delivers a sharply riveting performance as Philip Lombard, the self-assured veteran eager to endear himself to everyone around him, but is it to protect himself or to score his next victim?

Juliette Jones plays Vera Claythorne, expertly carrying the emotional weight of several scenes with grace and skill, while keeping us guessing as to what is behind that sweet façade.

Amy Anderson plays Mrs. Rogers, in a flowing multi-layered performance, embodying her character with a compelling mix of sassy devotion before collapsing into horrified terror. Alongside her is W. Scott Pinkston, playing her devout dutiful husband, Rogers, in a skillfully-restrained performance of a man trying to keep himself together as his world falls apart around him.

Tess Jenkins plays the formidable Emily Brent, with resolute power and impressive determination, holding her own against the other strong personalities around her, embodying so much mystery and zeal into one of my favorite characters, whom I loved to hate.

Peter Cook plays, with subtle elegance and commanding intrigue, the enigmatic Lawrence Wargrave, a retired judge with a mean streak, who attempts to rise above all the terror with calm and rationality.

Vince Brady plays William Blore, the ethically-compromised policeman, in an artful performance that convincingly blends outrageous comedy and clumsy heroism, into an unforgettable character that no one ever trusts completely, to his own frustration.

Dale Bowers plays, with accomplished tragic gravitas, the haunted and fatalistic General Mackenzie, who absorbs the terror emerging around him on a philosophic basis, struggling with the ghosts of his past.

Van Lang Pham plays the strangely sanguine Dr. Edward Armstrong, who struggles to keep people alive as they keep dropping dead around him. His performance is expertly complex and fascinatingly multi-dimensional, as Van’s character is repeatedly put in strange positions by the other characters: to investigate each cause of death and to calm everyone’s nerves, while also being expected to process his own feelings of dread of being next in line to meet his maker.

Anden J. Leo plays Marston, the handsome-but-unlikeable young wealthy man-about-town, with a sordid history, in a performance that emerges with calculated temerity and unforgettable boldness.

Rounding out the cast is Jake Nix playing Narracott, in a delightful performance as the boatman with an attitude, who is supposed to rescue the group but disappears under mysterious circumstances.

Throughout this plot-driven show are twists and turns, keeping the audience guessing as to what will happen next. With technical precision and excellent stage-craft, the production team delivers to us the delicious mystery thriller that we expect from an Agatha Christie story.

The excellent performances and mindful direction also deliver to us a study of the power of regret and how it can come back to haunt you, in multiple ways. Your past mistakes, your moments of weakness, your indiscretions and your betrayals. All the things that make you who you are today can come back to destroy you. The more power and influence you acquire, the more your own insecurities can amplify, causing you to prey upon the insecurities of those around you.

The island asks a terrible question: what happens when someone appoints themselves the instrument of cosmic balance, believing so deeply in their own righteousness that murder becomes indistinguishable from justice—and the executioner cannot see that their name, too, belongs on the list they've written.

Each guest carries the weight of unpunished sin, and the closing circle of deaths becomes a mirror held up to show that those who escape the law rarely escape themselves—that the desire to punish others often masks the sentence we've already passed upon our own souls.

There is a particular madness in believing that killing can cleanse, that punishment restores what was lost; the ten soldiers falling one by one reveal not justice but its grotesque shadow—the truth that obsession with retribution consumes the self-appointed judge long before it ever reaches the guilty.

This is ripe fodder for thought for today’s times, as we see news stories of people being murdered in the streets by members of our own government, who themselves are guilty of all kinds of crimes against humanity. There is the added element of our society rushing to mine the pasts of these victims (even the moments of their deaths) for anything, real or perceived, to justify these extra-judicial murders.

Even decades after this story was written, so many parts of our society remain obsessed with a punitive narrative to solve both real and perceived conflict, when we should be focusing on a reform narrative.

Come on down to Federal Way for the classic Agatha Christie thrills, stay for the poignant reminder that reform is a possible choice we can take in our lives, as we let go of the allure of punishment, both self-inflicted and those inflicted by others.

Ten guilty strangers. One island. No escape. Centerstage Theatre's And Then There Were None delivers classic Christie thrills with a chillingly timely reminder: the obsession with punishment destroys the obsessed long before it reaches the guilty.

And Then There Were None runs on stage at Centerstage Theatre in Federal Way through February 22. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://centerstagetheatre.com/.

Photo credit: Michelle Smith-Lewis