Caroline Russell-King offers her Postcard Review of Workshop Theatre’s 50th anniversary production of the Agatha Christie classic Witness for the Prosecution.
Caroline Russell-King offers her Postcard Review of Workshop Theatre’s 50th anniversary production of the Agatha Christie classic Witness for the Prosecution.
Show: Witness for the Prosecution
Playwright/composer: Agatha Christie, based on her story by the same name.
Production company/theatre space: Workshop Theatre in the Victor Mitchell Theatre at the Pumphouse Theatres.
Length: Two acts (140 mins., with intermission).
Genre(s): Mystery
Premise: A man’s alibi for murder becomes suspect when a witness for the prosecution doesn’t corroborate his story and his penalty could be death.
Why this play? Why now?: This was the show that, half a century ago, opened at Workshop Theatre and this is its bookend encore with the same director!
Curiosities: I do wonder whether Sherlock, Miss Marple and Poirot bump up against modern sensibilities of DNA and other more modern forms of crime fighting for younger audiences. Does one have to be somewhat of an anglophile to appreciate the sensibilities and subtleties of the conflict of a culture that includes classism and xenophobic tendencies?
Notable moment: Christie’s corkscrew plot twist.
Notable writing: Outsold only by The Bible and Shakespeare, Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 mysteries (with iconic characters) and 13 plays. This classic is verbose mystery that will still be playing in the next 50 years.
Notable performances: The central character, Sajan Ray Dhaliwal, is at the beginning stages of what promises to be a long successful career. Dhaliwal knows that acting is in the art of listening and reacting. Rob Hay plays the laid back, loquacious, lead lawyer accompanied by sidekick Cesar Salvater, who also knows how to intently listen.
Notable design/production: Lauren Acheson’s lighting design gives glowing subtle support for the story, and sound designer Evan Davis hits all the right notes.
Notable direction: Louis B. Hobson, with assistant director Kathleen Shore, understands the difference between the power of stillness over static. They build the suspense that sparks the fuse for the inevitable explosions.
One reason to see this show: Join in the celebration of Workshop Theatre’s half century with this warm, classic, chestnut on a cold and dark, snowy night.
Workshop Theatre’s Witness for the Prosecution runs until Nov. 30 at The Pumphouse Theatres. For tickets and more information, go to https://www.workshoptheatre.ca/.
Caroline Russell-King is a playwright, dramaturg, and instructor. She is a member of The Playwrights Guild of Canada, the Dramatist Guild of America and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. You can find her work here at www.carolinerussellking.com.
