So it seems especially appropriate that
Michael Blau's set and Lisa Hailes' costumes
for Curtain Call Theatre's current production
of Agatha Christie's "Witness for the
Prosecution" are rendered in a rainbow
of gray.
Christie always has fun playing with the
truth, but even she seems to go the extra
mile in this courtroom drama in which the
young, charming and naive Leonard Vole stands
accused for the murder of Emily French -
a wealthy woman twice his age.
It's a British courtroom drama so the rules
of play are slightly different and the barristers
are garbed in powdered wigs even though
the action is squarely mid-20th century
(1955, to be exact).
And director Phil Rice engages the audience
with a bit of gimmickry that asks a paying
patron to volunteer as foreman of the jury.
Joanne Fitzgibbon handled the role on Friday.
Unfortunately, Rice doesn't make quite as
much of an effort to make his cast play
to the crowd.
Christie clearly intends for the audience
to be the jury, but James DiSalvatore (as
prosecutor Mr. Myers, Q.C.) never even turned
to the assembled in Friday's opening act.
John Noble (as defense lawyer Sir Wilfrid
Robarts, Q.C.) did, but he always looked
above the heads of the "jury,"
rather than in their eyes.
This made Christie's concept ineffective
and awkward.
Better were Ian LaChance and Kathleen Carey,
as the accused Vole and his strange German
wife, Romaine.
LaChance does a fine job as Vole, and it's
always hard to tell whether the character
is a rodent - as his name implies - or a
rabbit. That's not waffling on LaChance's
part - it's acting. And his courtroom explosions
are thrilling.
Carey is a veteran of local stages and she
acquits herself well as Romaine - a mysterious
character who seems to be woven of lies.
There is a natural tension in Christie's
script but Rice has a hard time maintaining
it. There were a few technical difficulties
on Friday - including a troublesome lighting
rig that delayed the second act - but those
had no bearing on the suspense.
Noble's occasional stumbles on his lines
didn't help matters, but mainly Rice's pacing
lacked a certain required tautness. Carey
whizzed past this problem in every scene,
simply by force of talent.
Overall, this "Witness" is delightful
to look at, enjoyable to see and slightly
Hitchcockian in its delivery, even if it
wants for more mystery.
Michael
Eck, a freelance writer from Albany,
is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.
from
the Schenectady Gazette
Staging of Christie
play lives up to author's greatness
By
Carol King
The date
is Oct. 14. A violent windstorm is raging
outside an elegant mansion in a London suburb.
Inside, a wealthy, aging lady sits with her
young male companion. A housekeeper walks
by the door of the drawing room and hears
them chatting and laughing softly. Later in
the evening, she finds the lady dead, gruesomely
murdered and calls the police. The author
could only be Agatha Christie. "Witness
For the Prosecution," now being offered
at Curtain Call Theatre, is one of Christie's
smartest, savviest mysteries. It has all the
elements we love about Christie's whodunits,
all of the humor, all the tension, and all
the red herrings, but there's more. This is
an intelligent tale with dramatic conflicts
and a truly shocking finale. And Curtain Call's
production gives it its due.
Character-driven
As with all Christie scripts, this one allows
for a parade of colorful characters. And the
actors, sharply directed by Phil Rice, play
them confidently. John Noble leads the cast
ably as Sir Wilfrid Robarts, the counsel for
the defense. James Di Salvatore, as prosecutor
Mr. Myers, could have aimed for the metaphorical
ballpark fence with his performance. Instead
he underplays the character with admirable
finesse.
But it is the witnesses who stand out in this
standout cast. Kathleen Carey plays Romaine
Heilger Vole, the defendant's foreign-born
wife. Her performance is remarkable for its
consistency and the powerful tension it creates
each time she appears on the stage. Barbara
Richards, as Janet Mackenzie, the formidable
housekeeper, displays wonderful comic timing
and, like Carey, a facility for dialect. This
very pretty actor is not afraid to make herself
look unattractive for the role. That takes
courage.
John J. Quinan entertains with a prissy Dr.
Wyatt. Dan Kelly is dependable as Mr. Justice
Wainwright, who must keep his unwieldy courtroom
in order. And Ian Lachance plays the defendant,
Leonard Vole, with all the trembling innocence
(or is it sneakiness?) his name would imply.
Rounding out this very competent cast are
David Edward Campbell (Inspector Hearn); Josh
Mandel (Carter); Jean-Remy Monnay (Court Clerk);
Maureen Neff (Greta); Michael Schaefer (John
Mayhew); and Aubrey Tighe (The Other Woman).
Technically
Tight
Set design (Michael and John Blau) and costume
design (Lisa Hailes) are coordinated beautifully,
highlighting the thematic shades of gray that
a really enjoyable murder mystery needs. Lighting
design by the talented William E. Fritz is
especially effective during the last moments
of the play, pinpointing the audience-wowing
conclusion.
If Lori Barringer (Stage manager/sound design)
misses some notes in her sound plot (often
a bit too grand for the onstage action), she
and her team are right on target with her
beautifully choreographed set changes. Props
by Roberta Rice are period-perfect.
In all, this is deeply satisfying Christie.
In fact, it is Christie to die for.
