Towards Zero

Agatha Christie's Towards Zero is one of the most popular of all her plays, and has been since its debut in 1944. For true Christie fans, the play is a winner. Wheelchair-bound Lady Tressilian is the focal point throughout, although she only has a part to play in the first minutes of the play.  In characteristic Christie fashion, the intricate plot has its twists, and most believe this to be the author at her best. It's a family affair, of course, yet, the nature of the family itself, and the ones in it who are the most likely culprits, seem more attracted to outsiders than to the family business... all except one - and therefrom hangs the plot. I think it is customary for first-viewers of the play to keep trying to guess "who dun it?" But, this one keeps you guessing for a long time because there are many people likely to have motives for the dastardly deed. For me, a Christie newbie, I still cannot understand the reason for title... nothing in this goes toward anything like zero, unless one thinks of the whittling down of likely suspects that Inspector Leach goes through in the search for the murderer (very unPoirot-like). If that be true, then the better title might have been Towards One. The Theatre in the Round production is really good...tight acting, good characterizations, well-rehearsed and directed.

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