Agatha Christie Thriller Keeps Audiences Guessing

THAME Players are opening with their production of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution at the Players Theatre on Tuesday, May 7.

Generally regarded as one of Christie’s most accomplished plays, this suspenseful thriller keeps audiences guessing until the very end. 

The plot centres on a court case involving a man, Leonard Vole, who stands accused of murdering a wealthy older woman, Emily French, who has made hm her heir, unaware that he is married. The stakes are high, with shocking witness testimony, impassioned outbursts from the dock, and a young man fighting to escape the hangman’s noose. The jury’s verdict is only the beginning of a story that is full of twists and turns.

This play was suggested to Agatha Christie by her theatre producer, Peter Saunders. The first draft was entitled Hostile Witness, but this was changed to Witness for the Prosecution at an early stage. Peter Saunders enlisted the services of Humphrey Tilling, a barrister, to verify the authenticity of the legal aspects of the plot. A lot of research went into the play, with both Christie and Saunders writing long letters to each other debating points and Christie also reading several volumes of the Notable British Trials book series to ensure everything was just right.

Witness for the Prosecution premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre in London’s West End in October 1953 and was a huge hit. It became Christie’s proudest achievement as a dramatist.

Agatha Christie’s output includes over 70 novels and 150 short stories. She also wrote over 20 plays. The most famous, The Mousetrap, which opened in 1952, is the longest-running play in the world. With more than two billion books printed she is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Agatha Christie has been widely adapted for TV, film, radio, publishing, stage and digital, and her books have been translated into more than 100 languages, making her the most translated writer of all time.

Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution is being performed at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP from Tuesday – Saturday, March 7 – 11, 2019 at 7.45pm.

Tickets are all £8 on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th, and £10 (£9 concessions) from Thursday 9th – Saturday 11th. Tickets are available from Spear Travels, Greyhound Walk, Thame, telephone 01844 217228, or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk