Witness For The Prosecution

I’d been looking forward to this one. Nothing like sitting down to watch a good murder mystery from the mistress of Crime Fiction, Agatha Christie. A three-act play, the plot revolves around Leonard Vole, a young man who is accused of murdering a rich woman considerably older than him, if you can call early fifties old. His alibi depends on the time of his arrival home. His German wife, Romaine, who appears as the witness for the prosecution puts her own freedom on the line when she lies about his arrival home as evidence in the form of letters she wrote then emerges via a mystery woman proving her to be deliberately perjuring herself to have her husband convicted. However, being an Agatha Christie a couple of unexpected twists at the end are needed to sort out truth from lies.

The set built by John Rickatson, Nichola O’Brien, Simon Stranks, Mick Platt and Matthew Gibson was entirely to blacks and relied on furniture to set the two scenes. The first scene of Act one and then revisited again in Act Three was the comfortable chambers of barrister Sir Wilfred Robarts and consisted of a rather splendid fireplace to the rear, an equally splendid period desk, comfortable chairs, a table and a hatstand. Amusingly the mantlepiece above the fireplace had an ornate clock with a little stand next to it upon which Sir Wilfred kept his courtroom wig. The other scene was a very well thought-out courtroom, also visited twice during the action, with the Judge’s bench raised up high, centre stage rear, with the Clerks station below it. The two tables for the prosecution and defence lawyers in front of them. The witness box was to front and side stage right and the Dock was on the auditorium floor immediately in front of the stage with a chair and a bar where the accused sat with his back to us facing the judge. This was extremely well built with all the parts matching each other giving a very realistic court room. Excellent job!

Lighting and sound by Nathaniel Bottoms, Simon Stranks and Pete Bottoms, lit the set appropriately and the sound was crystal, in this unmic’d production. I never gave either a moment’s thought which meant they were both perfectly setup and balanced.

Costumes were set in the 1950’s and were well sourced by Jennie Edwards, Sue Thorn and Angela Ayres with a splendid red judge’s outfit, gowns for the barristers, formal skirts and dresses for the ladies, a very French looking oufit for Romaine and very smart suit for the accused.  Not to forget the splendid wigs for the courtroom officials. Apart from no turnups for the men’s trousers, probably impossible to source these days, all were period perfect. All properties were sourced by Angela Ayres and the cast and again were all totally appropriate to the period.

The acting was very impressive in what is a wordy play. John Rickatson led the way with a characterisation of barrister Sir Wilfred Robarts, determined to prove his client’s innocence. He dug himself out at one point but otherwise he was the epitome of a legal counsel with an excellent portrayal. Well supported by Jo Holt as the solicitor associated with his chambers Frances Mayhew. And not to forget his Clerk of chambers played by Beverley Weller who also played Joan Clegg, the forensic expert in court.

What was great to watch was the courtroom duals between Sir Wilfred and council for the prosecution, Myers, equally well played by Mick Platt. The two of them certainly drew you into the courtroom drama.  Bob Harrison certainly seemed to be enjoying himself as Judge Wainwright, keeping order over his court and dispensing advice and directives with a calm very authoritarian manner.  

Harry Mason as the defendant Leonard Vole, certainly had me fooled as an innocent man having us believe him from beginning to end. Very convincing.  And the best character in the play has to be Romaine, his scheming wife played by Ildiko Allen. I don’t know what her real accent is, but she certainly nailed a German one, spitting venom across the courtroom. And then she had me reaching for the programme to (unsuccessfully) discover the identity of the mystery cockney accented woman with the letters. Exceedingly well done!

We then had an array of excellent cameos playing witnesses in the court case. My favourite has to be the very Scottish Janet Mackenzie played by Sue Thorn, who took no truck, forcefully decrying Leonard with some considerable venom. Hillary Parks as the Clerk of the Court, Jennie Edwards as The Foreman of the Jury and Simon Stranks as the Doctor who gave the court the cause of death. A stereotype policeman, Detective Inspector Hearne very well portrayed by Mark Thompson. And the Police Officer/ Court Usher, played by Will Sparrey who guarded the prisoner throughout the trial. He remained totally concentrated on keeping his eyes on his prisoner throughout, which was both impressive and unnerving seated as we were a few feet from him in the front row. 

And finally, the femme fatal, Greta, played by Yvie Walker, who starts off serving unwanted tea in Sir Wilfred Chambers and ends up throwing a very large curveball into the plot! Didn’t see that coming!

This was thoroughly enjoyable, a very well-done period piece of a typical Agatha Christie. So, congratulations to Director Rachel Gibson, her cast and crew. A great evening’s entertainment!

And thank you to the FOH staff for their kind hospitality.

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