Casting is announced for a new production of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit thriller Towards Zero, to be directed by Brian Blessed at The Mill at Sonning.
Five puzzled faces turned to him. There had been a murder – a brutal murder – of an invalid matriarch as she lay in bed. There had apparently been no premeditation on the part of her family and friends who had gathered at her home for their regular yearly visit. No one seemed to have had any reason for killing her, nor did anyone gain by her death. Inspector Battle paused. “It’s Zero Hour now,” he snapped.
The cast includes; Rosalind Blessed, Rob Heanley, Patrick Myles, Bethan Nash, Hildegard Neil, Chris Pybus, George Telfer, Kate Tydman, Noel White and Duncan Wilkins.
Towards Zero is a family affair, the latest in a line of Christie thrillers directed each summer by Brian Blessed at The Mill, with his wife, Hildegard Neil and daughter, Rosalind Blessed, in the company.
The combination of Christie and Blessed has proved a winning formula for The Mill, helped by the special relationship that Brian had with the Queen of Crime. He met and worked with her when he was a young actor at Nottingham Repertory Theatre. Their friendly conversations informed Brian about how she would have liked to see her plays directed. She told Brian that Towards Zero was acclaimed by the novelist Rupert Graves as by far her best and most dramatic novel, and in 1956, Gerald Verner adapted it into a play.
Packed with suspense, brooding atmosphere and outrageous twists and turns, Towards Zero will run for 8 weeks from Thursday 8 August – Saturday 28 September.
