"Toward Zero"

August 10, 2017 — An excellent cast headed by Jordan Reeves, Madeleine Maby, Cheryl Mullings, Robert Bates, Paul Melendy, Vinette Cotter, Angela Hope Smith and Buddy Haardt brought Agatha Christie's "Toward Zero" to the Barnstormers' stage in Tamworth, New Hampshire. Directed by Bob Shea,with set design by Emily Nichols and costume design by Mary Selvoski, the play proved to be a real audience-pleaser.

In a typical Christie formula, a large group of diverse people, all connected in various ways, are brought together under one roof. Old rivalries and hatreds are revived, and of course, someone ends up murdered. It's all very proper and British, tensions build slowly over the course of the play, and Dame Agatha doesn't reveal the perpetrator until the final minutes. In this case, the killer devised a particularly ingenious and convoluted scheme that was finally unraveled by an even smarter individual, and not by the police. It all led to a smashing ending that drew both gasps and cheers for its audacity.

The Barnstormers, in their 87th year, stages an Agatha Christie play almost every season, and they're particularly good at it. I'm already looking forward to next season, hoping there will be another play by this most popular mystery writer of all time.