Shaw production brings levity to a classic courtroom drama
Witness for the Prosecution
✩✩✩ (out of 4)
By Agatha Christie, directed by Alistair Newton. Until Oct. 13 at the Shaw Festival’s Royal George Theatre, 85 Queen St., Niagara-on-the-Lake. shawfest.com or 1-800-511-7429
There comes a point in every Agatha Christie play where the directors tip their hand — they’re either going to take this overly seriously or start laughing with the audience.
That point comes about 20 minutes into the Shaw Festival’s production of “Witness for the Prosecution” at the Royal George Theatre.
Marla McLean plays the sultry wife of a man on trial for the murder of a rich middle-aged woman he had befriended. As she enters, she’s accompanied by dramatic lighting and smoky sax music. She struts like she’s on a catwalk. She does everything but wink at the audience.
This is when director Alistair Newton gives us the nudge: We know it’s impossible to take any of this seriously, so why try?
It might be the only way to do Christie these days. Let’s be honest here: These aren’t plays aiming for high art. They’re the equivalent of a Sunday crossword for the audience.
When a director and audience are in on the joke, it makes things much less tedious.
That understanding seemed to be missing when the Shaw did a bunch of Christie plays in the ’80s and ’90s. They were overly earnest, which only magnified how silly they were.
Here, Newton and his cast are up for the challenge, playing it cool while knowing full well it’s going to be a cheeky three hours.
Adapted from her 1925 short story, “Witness for the Prosecution” offers a reprieve from the usual Christie fare, in that instead of a bunch of suspects thrown together doing “suspect” things, we cut right to the chase and go to court. A rich, middle-aged woman was murdered in her home and meek Leonard Vole (Andrew Lawrie) is on trial for it. Not helping his case is that she left everything to him in her will. All evidence points to him, and his wife Romaine (McLean) being aloof with his lawyer isn’t helping things.
Of course, there’s no play if it’s all cut and dried. The court scenes are a campy series of reveals and double crosses, and there’s naturally a new piece of evidence introduced that throws everything into question.
The middle act is a showcase for Patrick Galligan, as Leonard’s lawyer and Graeme Somerville as the prosecutor, trading zingers while stirring the melodrama. What a treat to see these Shaw vets still here, elevating everything they’re in.
The fun is contagious. McLean savours being the femme fatale, while Lawrie practically flop sweats in court with wide-eyed desperation.
Likewise, much of the cringy dialogue would be problematic in a more serious production.
Promotion for the 1957 movie version famously begged audiences not to reveal the twist ending, but nearly 70 years of cop shows and court dramas since have diluted whatever shock it once had. It’s more likely to be met with groans now — it’s absurd even by Agatha Christie standards.
Vital theatre? Not even close. But there’s no mystery here: After last season’s woes (a $5.7million deficit), Shaw is hoping the old dame can still sway a jury.