Theater Works' Witness for the Prosecution
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 4/3/99
(out of )Agatha Christie is one of the English language's premiere mystery writers. Her ingenious plots are regularly ripped off by the pathetic hour long t.v. mystery shows. Her knowledge of the legal system, and her love of twists and surprises, makes her plays interesting to watch, even when they're not performed in the ideal of circumstances. Many may think that these are hackneyed plots, thanks to all the imitators, but she is the grand dame who started them all. Her plot for Witness for the Prosecution is ingenious, and while often repeated, is never equaled. It is this large-cast production that Theater Works and Director Sally Jo Bannow have decided to mount. Unfortunately, several choices made by the director, some unconvincing performances, and problematic technical offerings make this show, in a word, pedestrian.
This courtroom drama centers on the likeable Leonard Vole, who
is being charged with the murder of a wealthy older woman who
has taken a fancy to him. Though circumstantial evidence is piled
against him, his attorney, Mr. Robarts, believes him to be innocent,
and works against Leonard's enigmatic wife and a grandiose prosecutor
to sway the jury in Leonard's favor. The ending, which involves
three distinct, fast-moving twists, is quite fun, and true to
Ms. Christie's pristine plottiness.
Someone has to explain to this reviewer, though, Ms. Bannow's
unbearably wrong choice in moving the setting of the play from
regimented London to post-WWII Los Angeles, while never bothering
to change many of the references, from tea time to barrister talk.
If this choice was to avoid the use of accents (believable since
the two that are required and used are simply wretched), then
taking the time to change the dialogue would have been welcomed.
The effect of a fog-bound L.A., and many transplanted British
place names and colloquialisms is simply comedic, but not in a
way helpful to the production. Even worse, this fledgling director
has mixed three different styles of acting in her creation, making
for an odd pastiche of realistic, representational and presentational
performances that hinders the pacing of the three act evening.
Ms. Bannow has obviously invested quite a bit of time and energy
into mounting this play, but has forgotten the unifying job of
the director, an important aspect.
There are only two performances that stand out in this cast of
15. Kudos go to Bruce Halperin as the prosecutor, Mr. Myers.
I had performed with Mr. Halperin a few years ago, and actually
did not recognize him for several moments after his first appearance.
He plays his part bombastically and broadly, and brings humor
and showiness to the role. A balanced performance comes from Matthew
Cary as the charming Leonard. Mr. Cary is the perfect boy-next-door
type, and uses this to his advantage throughout the entire play,
even as he has slight believability problems near the end.
Volume was an overall problem for the rest of the cast, a situation
unforgivable in a small space. The most guilty of this was Thom
Morrison as defense attorney Mr. Robarts. His voice was barely
audible through the entire first act. His acting style was a bit
better, although the descriptions of this character before his
arrival and his presentation upon appearing are not similar. He
lacks some of the quirkiness invested in this character by Ms.
Christie, and the play suffers for this. Even worse is poor Susan
Pemberton as Leonard's German wife, Romaine. While I found
her pitiful accent similar to that of Madelaine Kahn in Blazing
Saddles, a fellow audience member thought it more like Elmer
Fudd. Both are unfortunately accurate. She is little more than
a prop in Ms. Pemberton's hands, forecasting situations and twists
like a t.v. weather girl. Imel Rowell is funny, though
accent-dropping, in her role as Irish caretaker Janet McKenzie,
though her style of acting is so presentational, in the midst
of a realistic show, that it draws even more attention to the
director's gaffe.
The rest of the cast fared about the same, from Chris Nickerson's
one-note assistant, Mr. Mayhew, to Leah Shellhorn's existing-for-plot-purposes-only
secretary, Greta. While none of the supporting cast was particularly
bad, save for their volume problems, no one rose above the morass
of inconsistencies to wrest control of the show (not that it's
their place to do such a thing).
The inconsistencies bleed over into the technical production.
While generally impressive, Thom Gilseth's set looks unfinished
through his choice of half of a starkly black wall and mottled
paintjob on the backstage area for the courtroom sequences. David
Empey's lighting is generally good, although the actors were
blocked into some downstage areas that were not covered well,
making for even more problems. Becky Avery's period costumes
were generally solid, although Stephen Miller's wigs were
simply atrocious, looking more like they had been dropped into
place than affixed. Ms. Bannow does a good job of music choices,
well-handled by Chris Wo.
I have been a bit disheartened with Theater Works recent productions,
finding them below their usual level of expectation. I can only
hope that the upcoming, eagerly anticipated production of the
musical Chess reverses this trend.
Production Details:
Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie
Theater Works, Peoria
(623) 815-7930
April 2nd - April 25th, 1999