Coming out of Covid (well, living with Covid) I have been extremely nervous about venturing back out into the world, this new world; and to congested, busy events. Gone are those heady days of theatre on a Thursday, drinks on a Friday and a concert on a Saturday before returning to court preparation on a Sunday. Please note that I do on occasions write with some irony. But when the editor of this venerable publication told me to get back to the theatre, I thought I had little choice. An edict from up high. So: a musical perhaps, Shakespeare, Ibsen, a comedy? No. I thought I would keep to safe turf and selected a legal drama. A murder.
Who says I have no ambition?
Witness for the Prosecution is playing for your enjoyment at the County Hall in London. A spectacular theatre. It was the old council debating chamber. The theatre very much becomes part of the performance and this is very much to its credit. It adds to the intensity and to the emotion. Nowhere in the theatre to you sit further than two or three metres away from the action. As such you feel very much as if you are part of the trial (in a way in which we can sit back and relax; rather than the day job of being part of the trial).
The play written by Agatha Christie is very much a legal drama, with murder, suspense and a little humour.
Leonard Vole is accusing of murdering a widow to inherit her considerable wealth. If he is found guilty then the death penalty awaits. But he protests his innocence. Is he the killer?
He relies on his loving wife to provide his alibi. But can she be trusted? She is to be called as a witness for the Prosecution. The delightful interplay between the barristers and the Judge is almost balletic.
Personally, I preferred the 1957 film version of this story for the wonderful performance as Vole’s barrister Sir Wilfrid Roberts, by the late, great Charles Laughton. That said, this is great fun and a very good way to wile away an evening at the theatre. The story is engaging, the theatre captivating and the ending (no spoilers) is extremely well executed. A great way to step back into this world. The future is bright. The future, like the past is Christie.
Jason M Hadden MBE
A barrister at St Ives Chambers