'Witness for the Prosecution': Superb reboot of courtroom classic

‘WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION’: The chamber at London County Hall. Photo: Sheila Burnett

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION
By Agatha Christie
Directed by Lucy Bailey
Through January 9, 2019
London County Hall
London, United Kingdom
www.witnesscountyhall.com

By David NouNou

My knowledge of Witness for the Prosecution is based on the brilliant 1957 Billy Wilder movie of the same name. It is my favorite courtroom drama. It was presented on Broadway in 1954 and unfortunately never revived. Upon learning it was being done while we were in London, it was my first choice of seeing a show there.

Knowing all the twists and turns of the movie and remembering the unforgettable and brilliant cast headed by Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich and Elsa Lanchester, I had to fully erase everything from my mind and walk in with a clean slate in order to appreciate this play. This isn’t difficult to do because the play is not being performed in an actual theater but at the London City Hall (which is difficult to get to, but as a point of reference, it is behind the London Eye) and a brilliant stroke of genius of having the play performed there. It is an actual courthouse; you walk up the majestic marble stairs into the courtroom, and if you are seated in the stalls (the orchestra), which is essential, you are part of the trial and it is chilling at times.

The plot centers around Leonard Vole (Harry Reid), a good-looking idler being accused of the murder of Mrs. Emily French, a rich, lonely older widow who befriends Leonard and takes a liking to him and has made him her sole beneficiary. His case is taken by Sir Wilfred Robarts (Richard Clothier). The witness for the prosecution is of course Leonard’s German wife, the calculating Romaine Vole (Lucy Phelps).

In a mystery of this sort one cannot divulge anymore. The best part of the production is the trial is held in an actual courthouse. So next we have to deal with the casting and the performances which in this case is sketchy. The central problem is the casting of Leonard Vole. Forget Tyrone Power, Leonard was the role of a lifetime for him. Leonard has to be a mature, confident, attractive and a seducer. Unfortunately for Mr. Reid, because of his ultra-boyish looks, he comes off as a sniveling 16-year-old. At every juncture in a crisis or a tight spot, he takes out his handkerchief, starts bawling into it and wipes his face with his cries of innocence. This is poor direction, more on that later. It is hard to fathom why a worldly and smart woman like Romaine would ever stay with him or love him, let alone the dead widow, Mrs. French, leaving him as her beneficiary.

Richard Clothier is stalwart and convincing as Vole’s lawyer and Lucy Phelps does a mean, cold steely Teutonic Romaine. She is no Marlene Dietrich, but then who is? I especially liked Jules Melvin as Janet Mackenzie, maid to the Widow French. She was genuinely convincing on the stand.

Another problem for the show is the directorial choices made by Lucy Bailey. Aside from casting, she fast forwards the last 25 minutes of the show and some of the scenes are in almost total darkness. Had I not seen the movie, I honestly would have had serious problems reconciling the ending.

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie and of Witness for the Prosecution, I would strongly urge you to see it as not so much as a play, but as an experience taking part in a murder trial.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 27, 2018
Reviewed at June 23, 2018 performance in London