BWW Reviews: Hurry to Witness WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION at the Fulton

Hilton adds, "This show is very interesting when you put it up against the movie – or Christie's novels.  Unlike the novels it has last-minute twists.  The audience loves that."  Indeed, those audience members who may be closely familiar with Christie's novels, in which the end is usually the unveiling and apprehension of the villain, will (if they haven't seen the classic film) be even more surprised by the last-minute twists here than they may have been with the endings of "The Mousetrap" or of "Ten Little Indians" if they have seen them. 

If any of the barristers in the back of the courtroom look familiar to local audiences, it may be because these non-Equity players are Lancaster County attorneys finally getting their chance to try on the robes and horsehair wigs of the Old Bailey.  These back-benchers have no lines, but now have a theatrical credit to add to their professional resumes.  

One possible quarrel with the direction of the play may be the "freeze-framing" of some scenes and acts – the scenes emerge with the actors frozen in place, beginning motion and speech when lights are turned on, or with another similar action, and end with actors again freezing their motion prior to the end of the scene or the curtain.  This seems decidedly awkward at several moments during the performance and feels inconsistently handled.   One other issue: Beth Alison's part at the end is small, but it feels as if her presence should be stronger; she pales in comparison to Edwards' domination of the stage at that moment, making Allison's chemistry with other actors on stage seem weak.  Given the crucial part Allison plays in shaping the conclusion, the audience needs to have a stronger sense of her in order to understand why any other characters care about her.  However, overall, this is a truly enjoyable production of one of the great law procedural mysteries, and a more than suitable homage to the Queen of Mystery herself. 

This production of WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION must be witnessed before it closes. It's well worth the length, even if you know the movie already; on stage, it's a totally different creation.  At Fulton Theatre through November 4.  For tickets, call (717) 397-7425 or visit www.fultontheatre.org.

Photo credit: Fulton Theatre

America's most uncoordinated childhood ballet and tap student before discovering that her talents were music and writing, Marakay Rogers finally traded in her violin for law school when she realized that she might make more money in law than she did performing with the Potomac Symphony and in orchestra pits around the mid-Atlantic. She has never recovered from being chewed out by Terrence Mann in public for hanging up her bow. A graduate of Wilson College (PA), Marakay is also a writer, film reviewer and interviewer for the Wilkes-Barre (PA) Independent Gazette, science-fiction publications, and other news outlets. She's also taught college-level communications, writing, and English literature classes, has received multiple writing awards, and is listed in Marquis' "Who's Who in America". In her free time, Marakay practices law and often gets it right.

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