Drury Lane Pulls Show Art Featuring Noose

After an abrupt backlash, Oakbrook’s Drury Lane Theater has pulled the marketing art for the upcoming production of “And Then There Were None.”

The show poster’s design featured the title words surrounding a large noose, which many found disturbing and racially insensitive, especially considering the original title of Agatha Christie’s best-selling mystery: “Ten Little [racial slur].” The problems with using a noose — a symbol of lynching — paired with the disparaging original title seem glaringly obvious. Yet Drury Lane somehow missed it, and has worked quickly to scrub the image from their website and social media, saying:

Drury Lane acknowledges the insensitivity of our recent noose imagery for our upcoming production of And Then There Were None. We sincerely apologize for failing to recognize the harm that such a symbol causes. We are working to remove the image from all Drury Lane materials and recognize our larger need for improvement but believe it is important to address this issue immediately. We appreciate those who took the time to bring this important matter to our attention.

-via Facebook

The play features a murderer who is offing guests at an island retreat. One by one they are eliminated using the blueprint of the minstrel rhyme “Ten Little [racial slur].” Eventually, the title was changed to “Ten Little Indians” and today, it’s most often performed as “And Then There Were None,” which is the last line of the rhyme.

About author

Jason Epperson

Jason is a producer, manager, and designer with 17 years of experience in Chicago, New York, and in the touring market. In 2015, he founded Lotus Theatricals - the publisher of Performink, and an independent commercial producing company - with Abigail Trabue.