Take an isolated island, bring together  10 unrelated individuals who suddenly discover each has a deadly secret, add an unknown host whose object is definitely not a fun-filled weekend and you have Dame Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," the current offering of the South Bend Civic Theatre. The play, which began as a novel in 1939 with a definitely politically incorrect title, soon became "10 Little Indians" and, with the 1945 film version, premiered as "And Then There Were None." By any name this tale, touted as the world's best-selling mystery novel, maintains a fascination for both readers and viewers. The theatrical version  opened in 1943. After 60-plus years, its popularity is as strong as ever.

The reasons for this are evident in the SBCT production, directed by Leigh Taylor. Set in the living room of an island estate, the assembled guests  find themselves without transportation back to the mainland and, of course, a major storm brewing. A gramophone recording lists the guests by name as well as defining his/her crime, each of which resulted in a death which has remained unpunished. Retribution is promised. Taking it at first for a prank, it soon becomes obvious to all that the threats are serious. Above the mantel hangs a children's poem below which stand the figures of 10 soldiers. As each of the guests is dispatched according to the rhyme, one of the soldiers is broken. It finally becomes apparent that the aim of the weekend is death for them all. Designer David Chudzynski's period (1938) set utilized the entire stage, allowing the actors a comfortably large playing area of which they make very good use. There were few problems with muffled dialogue, as in past productions, and the use of  accents was fairly consistent throughout. Costumes also were close to if not right in the proper time and the lighting provided the proper atmosphere as the murderous weekend moved one by one,  to claiming all of the "soldiers.". Each of the players brought sustained and believeable individuality to his/her character and built the growing suspense and increasing histrionics in the "stiff upper lip" tradition of all Christie mysteries. The island guests are played by Andrea Smiddy Talkington, Matthew Bell, Sean Shank, James Bain, Marc Adams, Mary Ann Moran, Craig MacNab and Nathaniel Smith, with Roy Brokema and Lisa "Lee" Towne as butler and cook. Jenny M. Dolph serves as stage manager and also crews the elusive boat. Having seen the play and the film several times and, of course, knowing just who did it, it was a pleasure to allow the more than capable cast  to draw us into the heightening tension and even provide a bit of a jolt when the real villain was disclosed.   "And Then There Were None" is one Agatha Christie that stands up well to the test of time.

"AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" plays at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Warner Mainstage Auditorium, 403 N. Main Street, South Bend. For reservations: 234-1112 from noon to 6 p.m. weekdays or visit www.sbct.org.

Since the earliest days of theatrical productions, farce has consistently been a favorite comedic form. For the last several decades, the most successful American purveyor of this form has been Ken Ludwig who counts among most popular works"Lend Me A Tenor" and "Moon Over Buffalo." Six years ago, yet another Ludwig creation received its premier performance in the famed Alley Theater in Houston, Texas. Since then, "Leading Ladies" has found its way onto regional and community stages literally around the world. On Friday evening, it settled for a six-performance run on the stage of the Bristol Opera House in a fast-paced production by Elkhart Civic Theatre. Heading the cast, in performances that earn many laughs and for which the required high energy could be the basis for a new exercise routine, are veteran actor Rick Ellis and Scott Fowler.

The plot, as in most farces, is paper thin, ditto the characters, but under the assured direction of John Hutchings, the pacing is so rapid that these minor technicalities are barely a subject for concern. But back to the plot. . . . Leo Clark (Ellis) and Jack Gable (Fowler) — Clark and Gable, get it? — are two mediocre Shakesperean actors touring the American provinces with their "Scenes from Shakespeare."  A disastrous performance at the Shrewsbury Moose Lodge finds them broke and stranded in the wilds of Pennsylvania with nothing but a battered suitcase filled with large-size female Elizabethan  costumes. Spotting a personal ad in the local paper by which an elderly  millionairess is seeking two long lost nephews upon whom to bequeath her fortune, Clark siezes this as the chance to reboot their bank accounts by posing as the nephews. One small glitch. Upon arrival in York, PA, they discover nephews Steve and Max are really nieces Stephanie and Maxine. Never ones to let a gender switch derail their plans, the costumes come out and the farce is on. Keeping the obvious-to-all-except-the-other-characters deception rolling along are the Karen Johnston as Florence, the frequently terminal senior citizen; Daniel Johnson as her doctor who, like the Rev. Duncan Wooley (Carl Wiesinger), has his eye more on money than mortality; Butch (Ricky Fields), the doctor's weak-willed son; Audrey (Stephanie Musser), Florence's part-time aide and roller skating waitress; and Meg (Bridgette Greene), Florence's real niece, Duncan's fiance and a fan of live theater, especially Shakespeare.

Mix them together, put Meg with Leo/Maxine and Audrey with Jack/Stephanie while an increasingly suspicious Duncan determines to discover their secret. There is the usual amount of sexual innuendo (in farce, everything is implied broadly then left to the audience's imagination) and some really frantic costume changing. When he/she discovers Meg's dream of being in a play, Maxine decides to stage "12th Night" and, as in other Ludwig farces (Verdi in 'Tenor,' Rostand and Coward  in 'Buffalo'), uses the classics to add a touch of legitimacy to his far-fetched antics. Working on John Shoup's elegant set, the cast, most especially Ellis, Fowler and Greene, are up to and above the demands of their roles.  Special applause to the unnamed "dressers" without whose help, the almost instantaneous costume changes would undoubtedly have been disastrous.

'LEADING LADIES' plays at 8 p.m. today and next Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Bristol Opera House on 210 E. Vistula in Bristol. For tickets, call 848-4116 between 1 and 5:30 p.m. weekdays or visit www.elkhartcivictheatre.org. Some available at the box office 45 minutes prior to curtain.

It  began  50 years ago in the murkily menacing mind of B-movie mogul Roger Corman. Today, his 1960  black and white (remember?)  film “Little Shop of Horrors” is  a classic. The movie inspired a 1982 off-Broadway musical (same name) which led to still another   (1986) cinematic version (also same name), this time in Technicolor, and, most recently, a  2003 revival on Broadway.  ”Little Shop” has become one of the favorites (i.e. solid at the box office) of community theaters around the world. Judging by the production which opened Friday evening in South Bend Civic Theatre’s Wilson Mainstage Auditorium, it shows no signs of fading.

Led by Ted Manier, veteran actor making his directorial debut, the allegorical tale (the wages of greed are deadly) of Seymour Krelborn and his rapid advancement in the field of alien horticulture, this is one of the more successful SBCT musical productions. The music by Disney favorite composer Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,”  “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Princess and The Frog”), with book and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, sticks in your mind, especially the title song, another appropriately titled  “Dentist” and anything assigned to the rapidly-growing plant, Audrey II. As Seymour, employee of Mushnik’s floundering Skid Row flower shop, Justin Williams delivers a solid baritone and works very hard at being nerdy. The love of his  lonely life is fellow employee Audrey (Abbey Frick), whose clear soprano more than does justice to her most familiar solo, “Somewhere That’s Green,” a satirical ode obviously inspired by tract housing a la Levittown. The duo’s boss, who gets just too greedy, is played by Allan W. Holody. Seymour suffers in silence watching Audrey’s battered relationship with sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello (Josh Griffin), who delights in inflicting pain on his patients and his girlfriend. He more than deserves his hysterical end. Tracking Seymour’s rise from slavish assistant to gardening genius are Chiffon (Sophie Plunkett,) Crystal (Madeline Eastman) and Ronnette (Tabitha Lee) , a trio  that dispenses  vocals a la Motown, as it moves the action along.

The undeniable star turn in any “Little Shop,” however, belongs to the plant, Audrey II. Discovered by Seymour during “a total eclipse of the sun,” it thrives on a selective diet — human blood. It is solely responsible for the instant stardom of  Seymour and the flower shop which can only continue, the young man learns, by feeding Audrey  II’s increasingly insatiable appetite. Not surprisingly, this has disastrous consequences for all concerned, proving once again that greed equals trouble for all. The man behind or, in this case, inside the plant is puppeteer David Rozmarynowski, who built and operates the two final incarnations of the carnivorous  creature. Combined with the basso profundo of Marty Golob, when Audrey II bares her teeth and demands “Feed Me,” everyone listens. Frick’s  face concealing wig and her too-obvious  mike pack  are only minor flaws, but the difficulty in keeping singers and musicians together remains an unsolved problem for SBCT musicals. The instrumental trio led by Rebecca Wilson is parked off stage right in the hallway (indicated by an arrow during curtain calls). It was almost impossible for us to hear them and must have been even more difficult for the singers. (Note to stage crew members: if you can see the audience, we can see you.)

“Little Shop of Horrors" plays Wednesday through Sunday and March 17-21 in the theater at 403 N. Main St. South Bend. For show times and tickets, call 234-1112 between noon and 6 p.m. weekdays or visit www.sbct.org

In 2009, playwright Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize for drama with her play “Ruined.” It was the latest in her theatrical portrayals of African Americans and, most especially, women. One of the most popular is her 2003 look at a turn of the century seamstress who created “Intimate Apparel” for society women but found her own life unraveling at the hands of a careless man. The beautiful South Bend Civic Theatre production of “Intimate Apparel” went all the way to national competition where  it took second place.

No wonder then, that SBCT elected to begin its 2010 Studio season with an earlier Nottage drama, 1995’s “Crumbs from the Table of Joy.” For whatever reason, the story of a widower and his two teen-age daughters who move from the South to the harsh reality of 1950 Brooklyn  lacks the emotional  impact of her later work. The quintet of actors handles the frequently repetitive text well and creates a solid ensemble under the direction of Deborah Girasek-Chudzynski. Some knowledge of the tenor of the times is helpful here. Segregation was still a noxious given. Father Divine, whose photo hangs in the living room much like that of the absent father in “The Glass Menagerie,” was a definite force among the black community in the 1940s and ‘50s and Godfrey Crump’s  blind devotion to the self-proclaimed “God” was not unusual. While his daughters struggle with their new and frequently hostile environment, Godfrey (the solid Quinton McMutuary)  constantly writes down questions for “Sweet Father” to answer and even renames his daughters at the recommendation of the Harlem preacher. Into this already tense household comes Lily Ann Green (Natalie Davis Miller), sister of the deceased mother, a smoking, drinking self-proclaimed communist. She obviously has an eye for the widower who, unfortunately, has none for her. In spite of this, she moves in.

The abrasive interaction is exacerbated by Godfrey’s return from an attempted flight with a new wife, Gerte Schulte (the marvelous Melissa Manier), who is white and German. The resulting upheaval takes its toll on Ernestine, 17 (Leslie Ann Boyden), who serves as frequent narrator, and Ermina, 15 (the delightfully spunky Laurisa LeSure), who is determined to go with the flow.  Ernestine has dreams of her own, enhanced by hours spent in the local movie theater, which do not include following her father into a dead end job in a local bakery. The epilogue, although not as M-G-M-ish as Ernestine dreams, nevertheless offers glimpses of hope for the determined young woman.

“Crumbs From the Table of Joy” plays at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the theater at 402  N. Main St. South Bend. For reservations call 234-1112 between noon and 6 p.m. weekdays or order online at www.sbct.org.