And Then There Were None: Sewell Barn Theatre

by Agatha Christie / directed by Sabrina Poole
15-17 and 21-24 October 2026

It felt pretty weird. After ten years of almost always being in the theatre on 'official business' - with my AD hat on - this was my first attendance at a show without that responsibility. However, it did have one major advantage. During that decade, I haven't once seen a show of which I didn't know the ending - due to the fact that even without any direct involvement or supervisory role, I'd have read the script when we chose the season! This time... not. 

And that was wonderful, because it allowed me to become completely absorbed in this twisting tale, learning about each character, their past, their personality, following the story with bated breath right to the denoument. The Barn, inexplicably, hasn't presented any Christie stories before - not once in its 46-year history. Artistic Director Sabrina Poole - a self-confessed Christie addict - has done the theatre proud with a well-paced, imaginative, highly creative and satisfying show. It was, I might add, very satisfying to hear fellow audience members discussing during the interval, in animated fashion, their opinions on 'whodunnit'...

The set was dark, brooding, simple and appropriate, allowing clear setting and movement for a large (but decreasing in size!) cast. The use of sound and light was hugely effective (and often startling - after one particularly loud clap of thunder, I observed two ladies on the front row nearly fall out of their seats!). 

It was a delight to see an almost equal mix of new faces and old friends on the stage, and each one of the ten actors ("ten little soldiers") presented their backstories with conviction and excellent stagecraft. Every one made a fine and appropriate contribution -, no matter how long their character survived into the text...

Mark Hobbs and Meryl Dempsey, as the staff members Mr & Mrs Rogers, served the self-satisfied guests with confidence and restraint, and underpinned the situation perfectly. David Lintin's General Mackenzie was exceptionally moving and showed his deep-seated pain. Paul Cooke's nervous, haunted Dr Armstrong shivered in and out of the action and suspicion like a troubled ghost. Tristan Pike's gangly upper-class twit and rapid switches into an entirely different staff character brought a much-needed lift to the intensity of the proceedings.

Giles Conneely as the Judge and Jamie Willimott as Blore both showed exceptional stage command and storytelling, and performance versatility (OK [disclaimer], they both wore very different personalities in the show I directed them in back in July!). Gill Tichborne, as the waspish Emily Brent, demonstrated her hallmark impeccable character work and timing, which was carried off with superb elan; and the magnificent Tom Capon, whose sinister charisma left one permanently hovering between attraction and neck-prickling apprehension (shades of Iago here). Perhaps most remarkable of all, the very young and extraordinarily talented Florence Bates, who as pivotal character Vera showed a command of her art well beyond her years. Vera's escalating terror could so easily have slipped into caricature and/or overacting, but Bates' skill and the work of a first-rate director ensured that she remained convincing and truthful.

The show is enjoying record ticket sales; all three performances in the first week are fully sold out, and there are very few seats remaining for the second week at the time of writing. Advance booking is even more essential than usual on this occasion.

A huge thank you to Sabrina and her talented cast for continuing the Barn's well-deserved reputation for quality theatre, and for kicking off the new season in fine style.

Photography: Sean Owen of Reflective Arts

Tickets: www.ticketsource.com/sewellbarn | phone 0333 6663366

Contains murder, adult themes, depiction of hanging, and references to suicide

When Winston went to War with the Wireless: Maddermarket Theatre

by Jack Thorne | directed by Ginny Porteous

Norwich Players | 16 September 2026

When I saw 'Winston' and 'war' in one title, I made the initial mistake of assuming we were into WWII. The 'war' in question is the conflict between the 1926 General Strike, the Government of the day, and the BBC. I'm ashamed to say that my knowledge of that period of history is patchy, to say the least, and if we'd arrived at the theatre with enough time to read the programme before curtain up, director Ginny Porteous' notes would have enlightened me! Note to self: must do homework...

But what a cast. Many familiar friends, some of whom I have acted with or directed across the years, and many welcome new faces. The whole team gave excellent and accomplished performances; in many cases, they were multi-tasking with breathtaking speed and clarity. I was especially delighted by Jonathan Cooke's glorious Stanley Baldwin and Kevin Oelrichs' moving and gentle Archbishop of Canterbury - in both cases, the gents in question also doubled as variety entertainers of the era, among other things.

The inimitable Jez Pike commanded the stage as the central figure, John Reith, and brought deep humanity to this multi-faceted and fascinating character. Hannah Jones, as Isabel Shields, was immensely likeable; a wonderful link with the audience as she broke the fourth wall and acted both within the scenes and as an observant and entertaining narrator. (Her stagecraft and projection, incidentally, are impeccable.) And a real revelation to me was the magnificent Monty Jordan as Winston Churchill: portraying this well-known figure during a lesser-known period of his life and political career, with equal parts passion and humour but without the pastiche that could so easily intrude.

Ginny Porteous' direction was clear and focused, facilitating the creation of believable and sympathetic characters and maintaining excellent pace throughout. John Holden's imaginative set was simple, adaptable and evocative, making brilliant use of levels and rapid scene changes that allowed the 'flow' of the play to move swiftly.

Jack Thorne's script was to me, at least initially, somewhat confusing to me; it takes a while for the audience (without the homework mentioned above!) to settle into an understanding of the situation and its theatrical approach. However, as the story gathered its pace it also gained clarity, and it became a highly satisfying experience - thanks to the considerable skills of a fine director and team of actors.

The play continues until Sunday 20 September with evening performances Thursday to Saturday, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday. A highly-recommended production, and a credit to all concerned.

https://maddermarket.co.uk/

A decade of Artistic Directorship

In the middle of 2015, the process started to find new Artistic Directors of the Sewell Barn Theatre. Michelle Montague and Robert Little had jointly guided this wonderful local theatre, which has been creating fine productions since 1980, through five seasons (Robert had also fulfilled the role on his own for nine seasons ending in 2005) and it was time for them to hand over the reins.

At that point, the Tilletts had been in the audience for shows since 2007 (the first being Cider with Rosie), and I had been performing on the stage since my first outing as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 2009. Several people suggested that I might look at the AD role, mostly to a very firm 'no' - we had at that time only very recently moved out to the east coast of Norfolk, rather a distance from the theatre, and as a solo job it felt like a step too far. However, other possibilities were afoot; recently retired drama teacher Clare Williamson was also interested, and (long-story-short) the post was once again accepted as a joint role.

I spent the next seven years (including the COVID débâcle) working with Clare. Every show brought its challenges and delights; seven or eight each year, with each of us directing at least once per season (occasionally additionally and jointly, where another director had to step out of their planned project), as well as planning each season, selecting directors and approving their choices of show, obtaining rights, designing marketing material, supervising each show, supporting directors old and new, attending auditions, meetings, readthroughs and rehearsals, and much more.

Clare stepped back from her role in July 2023, after seven years with me - although she did immediately assume the mantles of front-of-house, props manager and wardrobe assistant! Into that gap came the force of nature that is Sabrina Poole, and for the following three seasons we continued to develop and facilitate the entertainment with what has, for so long, been the Barn's trademark high standards. Both ladies have been an utter delight to work with; I have learned so much from and with them.

My final production, in July 2026 and concluding the 2025/26 season, was J B Priestley's When We Are Married. On the last night of that show, the usual cast exit after the curtain call was paused by the entrance of Sabrina, who explained to the audience the significance of the evening, and asked Clare to retrieve me from my place in the seats. Surrounded by my cast, I was heart-full and beyond grateful for their kind words and gifts. The beautiful book, collated by Sabrina and my husband Selwyn, and designed by the talented Phil Williamson, commemorated all twelve of my directorial outings between 2017-2026; I was gifted two roses ('Peace' and, naturally, 'Drama Queen'!), with a book of poetry (about roses, of course) signed by many audience members from the run of this show.

After the show, Jonathan Redding presented me with the appreciation of the Trustees, with a card, and a refill for his delicious Norfolk Gin; and my beloved final cast gave me a card, another wonderful rose ('Silver Wedding', given the subject of the play we'd just finished) and the image (brilliantly photoshopped by the amazing Myles Crowder) of the three couples in their wedding clothes, signed by all the cast. Oh, and I mustn't forget that Mrs Northrop (the fabulous Helen Wells) wrote, and read, a poem for me!

I could not be more grateful and happy for all the love and support that has been shown to me, across those ten years and at its conclusion. I will of course continue to be around the Sewell Barn; although I'm stepping back from the Committee, I'll continue to be involved in marketing and the newsletter; and, for the first time in many years, I plan to audition for a couple of shows in the new season. If I'm successful, I'll be back on the other side of the footlights!

Oh, and a final PS: as all my casts know, I am an Excel-obsessed geek ("I didn't know I was being directed by an IT department..."). I've indulged myself and worked out that, during the 15 shows that I directed (or co-directed) at the Barn across the last 15 years (which includes three in 2011-2015 before I became AD), I have worked with a total of 90 talented actors - whose appearances number between one and seven of my shows. In addition, I've enjoyed the skills of many patient technicians, set builders, costume ladies, SMs and ASMs, and everyone else who makes entertainment not only possible but joyful.

🎭THANK YOU🎭

With my fellow Artistic Directors:
Clare Williamson (left), 2016-2023, and Sabrina Poole, 2023-2026

Link to more photographs of that final farewell, and my lovely gifts

Link to a video of Phil's beautiful book

(I wanted the video of the book to include the music of The Mosquito's Parade - our curtain call music from the show - but YouTube won't let me... so you'll have to access it separately here!)

Egypt - March 2026

I wanted to gather together images of our recent 'big holiday', and looked for any of my random blogs that might be an appropriate home. I realise that it's been ten years since I used this one, but it's as good a place as any!

Ramses II (statue on right) and his wife Queen Nefertari - with a couple of twenty-first century photobombers. At the stunning site of Abu Simbel.

My husband has had a great affection for the Middle East for many years. His parents met while on national service in the Holy Land; he studied Egyptology (called Oriental Studies in those days) at Peterhouse, Cambridge; and on several occasions between the 1970s and 1993, he was employed as a guest lecturer on various Nile cruises.

Towards the end of his Cambridge days he wrote a small book ('Egypt Itself') about Robert Hay, Esq - an extraordinary character from Scotland, who, in the 1820s, took himself off on the Grand Tour, as many wealthy Europeans did in those days. That book is considered of very great interest to a very tiny niche of the population. During lockdown, and then again since his retirement in November 2023, he has gradually revised and expanded the book, and it will be published this summer by Archaeopress, both in printed and electronic format. (I'll add more information here when this happens.)

Given all this, it's not surprising that he has always wanted his wife to experience the extraordinary atmosphere, beauty, challenges, art and history of the place. It wasn't something that was within our budget for many years; but having received a legacy after my mother's passing (just a couple of weeks before my husband's retirement), we decided to 'go for it'. It took a further year of planning, and making a nuisance of ourselves to the very patient Greg at Orbital Travel, but we finally made it - spending just under a month over there.

This was, of course, a very short time after a certain orange man-baby had excelled himself in havoc, letting slip the dogs of entirely unnecessary and unjustifiable war; and naturally we were apprehensive, as were many of our friends. However, the Nile area was judged to be about the safest place to travel in the Middle East, and in the event we had no problems whatsoever. Western tourists have always been guarded with care in any case, and the fact that two of our evening wanders from our boat were made only with the escort of armed police would have happened anyway. 

We spent the first two weeks travelling on MS Moon River from Cairo to Aswan; we were then driven round the High Dam to a second boat, the impressive MS Omar Kayyam, for a week on Lake Nasser; and finally, transferred by road from Aswan to Luxor, where we spent three days in the beautiful Winter Pavillon Hotel. 

The photo albums linked below are from those three sections. I've tried to annotate some photographs to show where we were and what we were doing! And I'll try to find time to add more detail to this description soon.

Volume 1: Cairo to Aswan

https://photos.app.goo.gl/e7vVjR2WFtwBgoH69

Volume 2: Lake Nasser

https://photos.app.goo.gl/qmMDCeMWF2VkKv6Z8

Volume 3: Luxor

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XUuYUr4d5qKZ4oi48