Witness For The Prosecution

Well, I didn’t expect that, so many twists and turns. I really thought Mr. Vole was innocent, I thought he was set up for sure. He pleaded his case with defiance. There’s no ways he could have murdered Mrs. French in cold blood, she was his friend. So what he inherited all her money and was looking at boats the week before her death. These things happen, besides death comes for all of us. Yes, Mr. Vole is a young handsome man with his whole life ahead, is unemployed and had everything to gain from Mrs. French’s death but it’s lazy to label him a murderer. He could have been framed. I was suspicious of everyone earlier in the play. Myself and the gentleman sitting next to me were not convinced of the charge brought against Mr. Vole and when his devoted wife Romaine, was called up as a witness for the prosecution, the alarm bells rang louder. The beautiful foreign girl lied to the jury and was a poor alibi. Instead of helping her husband, she made things worse! She fabricated details whilst his husband was protesting. I felt sorry for Mr. Vole, he vehemently protested his innocence, he was sweating, he was lively, active, on his feet, letting the jury know that he did not kill Mrs. French. That’s when I knew that he was innocent and that it was his wife Romaine who had murdered Mrs. French, the gentleman next to me concurred. Romaine played by the super talented Sharon Spiegel-Wagner is clearly a femme fatale, she oozes sexuality, is dressed in red and when we are first introduced to her, smoke is released from the stage and she makes her grand entrance, music in the background and she takes her sweet time walking. She’s a siren, a real work of art, it’s easy to see why “Leonard kisses the ground she walks on”. She strikes me as the murderer because of the fact that she’s a foreigner and her dubious character. It’s also revealed that she is not even married to Mr. Vole, she’s actually a Helm, still married to her husband living in Belgium. I disliked Romaine more and more as the play went on, a big cognitive dissonance. Sir. Wilfrid played by Graham Hopkins and his junior counsel John Mayhew played by Craig Jackson work exceedingly hard to prove Mr. Voles innocence. They succeed as the jury deliver their verdict – NOT GUILTY! But there’s a twist, it turns out he was guilty and his wife knew, she protected him and fabricated evidence to get him out of the hook earning charges of perjury in the process. That’s not all, it turns out Mr. Vole has a blonde mistress she was planning to elope with, leaving Romaine behind. In a heated exchanged, Romaine stabs and kills his husband. All this happens while still in court with Sir. Wilfrid and his assistant watching in the distance. So in addition to her perjury charge, Romaine will also be trialed for the murder of her husband Leonard Vole.

Unbelievable show! I didn’t know where to look, what to expect. Shocking! Thriller! Drama! Suspense! Agatha Christie is a master, great show. Respect to Graham Hopkins, a true legend, his acting was a masterclass, how he delivers his words, the accent, his posture, mannerisms and stature, it was his show, everything revolved around him, he killed it! Shout-out Peter Terry who plays Mr. Justice Wainwright and Mike Huff as Mr. Myers.

I thought the show had Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” influence. It’s centers around the same topics, murder and human nature. It’s clear I don’t have a clear understanding of both, I thought Mr. Vole was innocent despite the overwhelming evidence against him. Dostoevsky’s character Raskolnikov, doesn’t murder to inherit a fortune, he murders in cold blood because he is vile, ugly and because he can. He murders because he is in a position of power over the elderly woman, because he doesn’t see the use of the elderly woman living, because God won’t stop him. Dostoevsky documents Raskolnikov’s psyche, he is in a mess, he is haunted, he can’t sleep, he loses weight, he is sick, he is overwhelmed with guilt – the magistrate in charge of murders and equipped with a shrewd understanding of criminal psychology sees all of this, he torments him with his appearance, questions, he sees right through him. Ultimately Raskolnikov confesses and hands himself over. Leonard Vole didn’t exhibit all of this behavior, could he be a sociopath? Stories like this teach you a lot about human nature, it’s interesting to contrast them. “Witness For The Prosecution” is a thought-provoking show that depicts how absurd the human condition is, Albert Camus would be so proud.

I am not going to act like Sharon Spiegel-Wagner isn’t my Achilles heel, she’s the best and she delivered yet again. If I had my way, I’d see her every day. She’s an incredible, amazing, beautiful, talented woman and the show is exhibit A. She performs at a high level and everyone shines. Graham Hopkins and Craig Jackson are the pulse, they hold the show together, some of the shows best dialogue comes from them, they have amazing chemistry and synergy. Greta, played by Dianne Simpson was one of my favorite characters, she was amazing and funny. Brett Kruger as Leonard Vole is excellent. The show was well-written, the performers were amazing and the direction and lighting perfect. The lighting and smoke was pretty awesome! It’s an experience, I felt like I was in that courtroom. I loved that the set was not fixed, it kept on changing, that was appealing to my eyes and it helped with the mood that the director tried to evoke and convey. Some actors committed to double shifts, playing more than one character, wow, the mastery you have to achieve to do that, unbelievable craftsmanship. Congratulations to Alan Swerdlow and the whole team for a great, great show and a deserved standing ovation!