Location: London County Hall

Declarations by reviewer: free tickets given to the Circadian

Rating: ★★★★☆

Stepping into the chamber of London County Hall, you really get the feeling of being witness to a true spectacle of modern society, a process of law and order, used to decide whether a man is to be hanged, or found not guilty of all charges. The tradition and formality that comes with the set is mirrored in the almost ritual-like procedure of set changes that hide their clunky reality with an air of drama that utilises the intimate stage and huddled audience superbly.

Based on Agatha Christies 1925 book, ‘Traitor’s Hands’, Leonard Vole (Joe McNamara) stands accused of murdering a wealthy woman for her inheritance, and it is down to his lawyer, Mr Mayhew (Teddy Kemper) and defence barrister Sir Wilfrid (Jonathan Firth) to prove his innocence to avoid the grim reality of the death penalty, so sharply illustrated by a dramatic opening scene of Vole picturing his own execution.

Despite a harsh, and at sometimes brutally, delivered story, the writing manages to keep its fair share of levity and wit. A personal favourite of mine is the early repartee between Sir Wilfrid and Romaine Vole (Emer McDaid), Leonards German immigrant wife, whom he was able to help escape from eastern Germany, but not without carrying some secrets of her own.

Romaine is a polished gem of a character from perhaps what could be seen as a selection of unidimensional murder mystery board game tokens, and McDaid does her character the justice she deserves, with an enthralling performance only rivalled in the cast by that of Firth as Sir Wilfrid. The themes of foreign distrust sowed around Romaine seem as sadly relevant now as they did in the 20s with Christie’s short story, or the 50s with the film and theatre adaptations.

It would not be proper to mention the acting prowess and writing on display without framing it with the atmosphere produced by William Dudley and the design team. The immersion felt by audience members from this production is up there with anything I’ve seen, even to the extent of sequestering audience members to act as the jury throughout the production, further breaking the barrier between what is art, and what is life. The chamber feels to almost breathe with the production, rising and falling as Vole’s defence rises and falls with it.

As with any Christie story, half of the fun is in the whodunnit nature and constant internal questioning, playing detective from the safety of your seat. I felt that my summer spent watching hours upon hours of Law and Order had prepped me thoroughly for any twist and turn that may occur, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that illusion shattered. I was less pleased to see the twist that shattered my illusion as something that would not be out of place in an M Night Shyamalan film.

The superbly paced drama with a flow so natural it seems to have almost been written in a state of unconscious mastery is only let down by its ending. Despite this rather tepid conclusion, I highly recommend you go check this play out, with student (Under 26s) tickets available at a discounted price of £25 (down from the usual £60) for Band A stall seats until December 20th during off peak performances. ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ is running at London County Hall until September 2022.

BL Circadian gives this performance a rating of four stars out of five