Witness for the Prosecution (play)

Infobox Play
name = Witness for the Prosecution


image_size =
writer = Agatha Christie
date of premiere = September 28, 1953
country of Origin = United Kingdom
original language = English

"Witness for the Prosecution" is a play adapted by Agatha Christie based upon her short story titled "The Witness for the Prosecution". The play opened in London on October 28, 1953 at the Winter Garden Theatre (although the first performance had actually been in Nottingham on September 28). It was produced by Peter Saunders.

Reception of London production

"The Times" of October 29, 1953 was enthusiastic in its praise stating, "The author has two ends in view, and she attains them both. She takes us now into the Old Bailey during an exciting trial for murder, now into chambers where the human reactions of the lawyers engaged in the case may be studied; and when the trial is over and there seems no more to be said, she swiftly ravels again the skein which the law has confidently unravelled and leaves herself with a denouement which is at once surprising and credible." The reviewer outlined the basics of the plot, commenting that Patricia Jessel's performance in the dock was "cold-bloodied" and that she "makes a clear-cut image of hatred releasing itself suddenly from inhibitions which have become intolerable" and that Derek Blomfield was "equally good". The greatest praise was reserved for the climax; "Mrs Christie has by this time got the audience in her pocket. A timely intervention of a woman of the streets offering new evidence seems precisely what the trial needs and when it is resumed the evidence brings it triumphantly to a satisfying conclusion. It is only then that the accomplished thriller writer shows her real hand." ["The Times" October 29, 1953 (Page 7)]

Ivor Brown of "The Observer" said in the issue of November 1, 1953 that the play had, "all the usual advantages of Counsel in conflict, agonised outbreak in the dock, and back-answers from the witness-box. To these are added a considerable and ingenious appendix; the jury's verdict is only the beginning of a story that has as many twists as a pigtail." He summed up with a comment on the performance of Patricia Jessel who, "takes the title-part with cool efficiency. Whether she is snake in the grass or butterfly on the wheel playgoers must find out for themselves. There will be plenty doing that." ["The Observer" November 1, 1953 (Page 11)]

Philip Hope-Wallace in "The Guardian"'s issue of October 30, 1953 said of the ending, "Justice has been done and has been seen to be done. We nod approvingly, at which moment Mrs Christie says in effect "Oh, so you thought that did you?" and with an unforeseen twist of the cards lets us see how wrong we were. This is satisfying, but it makes criticism almost impossible; first, one must not give away the clue and second, one must reconsider whether those witnesses who seemed the most plausible were not, in fact, less good players than those who seemed somehow not quite 'in character'". Nevertheless, Hope-Wallace did admit that the opening night was, "a great success" and stated that the play presented a, "well-made, humorous, exciting case". ["The Guardian" October 30, 1953 (Page 5)]

Credits of London production

*Director: Wallace Douglas

*Cast:
*"Rosalie Westwater" as Greta, typist to Sir Wilfred
*"Walter Horsbrugh" as Carter, Sir Wilfred's Chief Clerk / Alderman
*"Milton Rosmer" as Mr Mayhew, a solicitor
*"Derek Blomfield" as Leonard Vole
*"David Horne" as Sir Wilfred Robarts, QC
*"David Raven" as Inspector Hearne
*"Kenn Kennedy" as Plain-Clothes Detective / Third Member of the Jury
*"Patricia Jessel" as Romaine
*"Philip Holles" as Clerk of the Court
*"Percy Marmont" as Mr Justice Wainright
*"D. A. Clarke-Smith" as Mr Myers, QC
*"Nicolas Tannar" as Court Usher
*"John Bryning" as Court Stenographer
*"Denzil Ellis" as Warder
*"Muir Little" as The Judge's Clerk
*"George Dudley" as First Barrister
*"Jack Bulloch" as Second Barrister
*"Lionel Gadsen" as Third Barrister
*"John Farries Moss" as Fourth Barrister
*"Richard Coke" as Fifth Barrister
*"Agnes Fraser" as Sixth Barrister
*"Lauderdale Beckett" as First Member of the Jury
*"Iris Fraser Foss" as Second Member of the Jury
*"David Homewood" as a Policeman
*"Graham Stuart" as Dr. Wyatt, a Police Surgeon
*"Jean Stewart" as Janet MacKenzie
*"Peter Franklin" as Mr. Clegg, a laboratory assistant
*"Rosemary Wallace" as The Other Woman

The character of "The Other Woman" was, as the play revealed Romaine in disguise. Therefore, although credited, Rosemary Wallace was a pseudonym used to preserve the play's ending.

Broadway production

The play opened in America at Henry Miller's Theatre, New York on December 16, 1954. It was produced by Gilbert Miller and Peter Saunders. Patricia Jessel was the only member of the cast to transfer from the London production. The London "Times" reported on the success of the production in its issue of December 23, 1954 when they quoted a review in the "New York Herald Tribune" which said that the play should be, "A walloping success. The finish is done with such dedicated conviction, such patient plausibility, such respect for the medium as a thing of beauty that you are apt to find yourself gasping out loud." ["The Times" December 23, 1954 (Page 8)]

Sullivan and Jessel both won Tony Award's for their roles. The play ran for 645 performances, closing on June 30, 1956 [ [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=2485 Internet Broadway Database page on play] ] .

Credits of Broadway production

*Director: Robert Lewis

*Cast:
*"Gordon Nelson" as Carter
*"Mary Barclay" as Greta
*"Francis L. Sullivan" as Sir Wilfred Robarts, QC
*"Robin Craven" as Mr Mayhew
*"Gene Lyons" as Leonard Vole
*"Claude Horton" as Inspector Hearne
*"Ralph Leonard" as Plain-Clothes Detective
*"Patricia Jessel" as Romaine
*"Dolores Rashid" as Third Juror
*"Andrew George" as Second Juror
*"Jack Bittner" as Foreman of the Jury
*"Arthur Oshlag" as Court Usher
*"Ronald Dawson" as Clerk of the Court
*"Ernest Clark" as Mr Myers, QC
*"Horace Braham" as Mr Justice Wainwright
*"R. Cobden-Smith" as Alderman
*"Harold Webster" as Judge's Clerk
*"W. H. Thomas" as Court Stenographer
*"Ralph Roberts" as Warder
*"Henry Craig Nelso" as Barrister
*"Brace Conning" as Barrister
*"Ruth Greene" as Barrister
*"Albert Richards" as Barrister
*"Franklyn Monroe" as Barrister
*"Sam Kramer" as Barrister
*"Bryan Herbert" as Policeman
*"Guy Spaull" as Dr Wyatt
*"Una O'Connor" as Janet MacKenzie
*"Michael McAloney" as Mr Clegg
*"Dawn Steinkamp" as The Other Woman

As with the London production, Dawn Steinkamp was a pseudonym.

Publication and further adaptations

The play was first published in the UK in "Famous Plays of 1954" by Victor Gollancz Ltd in 1954. The first printing in the US was in the same year in a paperback edition by Samuel French Ltd. French also published the play in the UK in 1957 as French's Acting Edition No 648 priced at five shillings. It was reprinted in hardback for the US market in "The Mousetrap and Other Plays" by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1993 (ISBN 0-39-607631-9) and in the UK by Harper Collins in 1993 (ISBN 0-00-243344-X).

The very first performance of the story, just pre-dating the debut of Christie's play, was in the form of a live telecast which aired on CBS's Lux Video Theatre on 17 September 1953 and which starred Edward G. Robinson (making his television debut), Andrea King and Tom Drake [ [http://www.andreaking.com/WitnessForTheProsecutionPage.htm Page from Andrea King website on telecast] ] .

The film version, based on Christie's play, was released on February 6, 1958 and directed by Billy Wilder. Charles Laughton played Sir Wilfred, Marlene Dietrich played Romaine (renamed Christine) and Tyrone Power played Vole in his second to last role. A character not in the play, Sir Wilfred's nurse Miss Plimsoll, was created for the film and played by Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester. Una O'Connor who had played Janet MacKenzie, the housekeeper of the murder victim, on the New York stage, reprised her role in the film. Laughton and Lanchester were nominated for Academy Awards.

A later adaptation was made for television in 1982 with Ralph Richardson, Deborah Kerr, Beau Bridges, Donald Pleasence, Wendy Hiller, and Diana Rigg. It was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and John Gay from the original screenplay and directed by Alan Gibson.

References