Few writers are as good as Agatha Christie at creating a suspenseful whodunit, one that keeps you guessing at the resolution from start to finish. Her stories and dramas are full of horrid crimes, ingenious plot twists and devious characters, as well as noble defenders of the law. And “Witness for the Prosecution,” at the Olney Theatre Center, is one Christie’s finest works. “Witness for the Prosecution” takes place in 1952, with a young man, Leonard Vole (Jeffries Thaiss), being questioned by the police regarding the murder of a 62- year-old acquaintance of his. Vole consults a defense counsel, Mr. Mayhew (James Slaughter) to see what he should do.
Vole claims to have been home with his wife, Romaine (Andrea Cirie), on the night of the murder. Mayhew gets a famous barrister, Sir Wilfrid Roberts (Bob Ari), to defend Vole and the trial goes to the Old Bailey, where Vole pleads his innocence. And that is as much as can be said about the plot of “Witness for the Prosecution” without giving away its extraordinary second act and its even more incredible final scene.
| Onstage |
| ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ |
| Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney |
| When: Through Sunday |
| Info: $26 to $54; 301-924-3400; olneytheatre.org |
The acting at Olney is above average, which is essential in “Witness,” where everyone from the stuffy judge, well played by Jim Scopeletis, to Roberts’ secretary, portrayed as a flighty egotist by Carolyn Myers, to Miss French’s emotional housekeeper, played with gusto by Monica Lijewski, must be able to carry the tale deeper and deeper into what seems like one conclusion, before there is a reversal, a second conclusion and then a third.
Paul Morella is solid as Inspector Hearne, as is Alan Wade as the flinty prosecutor, Mr. Myers. Ari and Cirie, especially, are excellent in their central roles. Yet the pace of director John Going’s direction drags. Despite the talent of the cast, at over three hours, this “Witness” seems to resolve itself unnecessarily slowly.
James Wolk’s set uses dark wood paneling and deep red walls for Roberts’ office. Those walls slide away to reveal the Old Bailey with its visual hierarchy of barristers, clerks, the judge, the dock.
Dialect coach Nancy Krebs does a fine job with her characters, who represent everything from the upper-class Brits to Cockney Londoners and even a staccato-voiced German. Liz Covey’s costumes create the sense of the timelessness of the British court, where the barristers and judge wear wigs and black robes.
That timelessness and infallibility of the court was, of course, Christie’s target in this drama. It takes a while to get there, but in the end Olney does a commendable job at reproducing Christie’s mockery of anything that assumes its own perfection — even an institution as hallowed as the British court system.
