Witness For The Prosecution - The Everyman, Cheltenham

Tuesday 2nd February 2010

This is a Crackerjack review of Witness For The Prosecution. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.

If you enjoy plays with a melodramatic twist or four, Agatha Christie is your woman.

And Witness for the Prosecution delivers them in true 1950s style, with none of the extraneous guff that mars many TV productions.

It’s the story of a young ex-soldier who befriends a rich, old - she’s only 56 but this is 1953 - woman. Predictably, she ends up in a pool of blood after changing her will in his favour, and he is charged with murder.

All the evidence is circumstantial and he has an alibi from the German bride he brought back to England. But why is she so cold and unconcerned about his possible date with the hangman?

With a cast of thirteen and an impressive court setting The Agatha Christie Theatre Company go solidly about the cut and thrust and occasional humour of the trial.

And as those melodramatic surprises came ever faster and more furious, you need a hat or something to hang on to.

Ben Nealon brings a cheerful credibility to the role of the accused. And the lawyers:  Denis Lill as a crusty old QC. Robert Duncan as a smooth solicitor, and Mark Wynter as a tricky prosecutor, capture the atmosphere of the era.

The role of the wife was made famous by Marlene Dietrich in the film version. But Honeysuckle Weeks - the police driver in TVs Foyle’s War – finds her own way to its centre.

If you miss the enjoyable old movies they once showed on Sunday afternoon TV, this is for you!

Derek Briggs 

This is a Crackerjack review of Witness For The Prosecution. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.