Review of Witness For The Prosecution (Theatre Mill)

For the first time in 2014, 51 years after its London debut, Witness for the Prosecution got its first site specific performance. 

Theatre Mill

This stunning and thrilling performance of Agatha Christie's courtroom drama was set in the York Guildhall, and gives the audience the chance to be a part of the action. I was very privileged to watch this masterpiece be performed in its full splendor in the historic York Guildhall courtroom. There were some many good things about this adaptation. Firstly, the plot. Witness For The Prosecution began its life as a short story written by Agatha Christie in a collection of short stories called The Hound of Death. It had such an appeal that she decided to adapt it for the stage; its debut performance was in 1953 in London. It also made the basis for a successful 1950's movie starring Marlene Dietrich as Mrs Vole. The stage ending is different to the short story ending, as Agatha Christie, being of a moral disposition, wanted to make the murderer pay for their crimes. I have to say, watching it for the first time, I was tricked!

The courtroom setting was one of things that made this performance so good. From the moment you walked through the doors, you were greeted by a policeman asking "Are you here for the trial?". Once you entered the magnificent court, the clerk invited you in and asked you to stand as the judge entered. This made you really feels as if you were watching a real trial, something a stage just cannot do. At some points, you forgot that this was a fictional play, and not a real trial of a man.

The cast was superb. Everyone was excellent. Andrew Dowbiggin  gave a convincing performance as Leonard Vole, so much so that you forgot that he wasn't really a man on trial for his life. Rachel Logan was wonderful as Romaine Vole, one of the major characters, she was great in the role. David Bowen was great as Sir Wilfred, and had a lot of funny moments and good interactions with Mr Mayhew, brilliantly played by Adam Elms. Everyone in the cast gave a solid performance.

I have to say that Theatre Mill have done a spectacular job with this performance of Witness For The Prosecution , it is definitely the best Agatha Christie play I have ever seen. It was great to see it in in the York Guildhall, the courtroom setting made you feel as if you were in a courtroom, that along with the excellent lighting. I recommend you go and see it before it is over, as you wouldn't want to miss out on this stunning site specific performance.

Witness For The Prosecution is on at the York Guildhall Council Chambers from 2nd - 20th April. 

Review of Black Coffee (Agatha Christie Theatre Company)

York Press

Last Saturday, I had the great pleasure of seeing the Official Agatha Christie Theatre Company's latest performance in York at the Grand Opera House. This year, after the 'death' of David Suchet's unrivaled performance as Hercule Poirot, the company chose Black Coffee, the sole Poirot play. Robert Powell doesn't rival David Suchet, but he certainly gives him a run for his money.

The story is a typical Agatha Christie tale, there's a missing formula, a murder of a rich patriarch and a unique detective who makes a mockery of the poor old police. As the curtain rose, the wonderful Poirot theme tune from the TV series (composed by Chris Gunning) could be heard, with a slight alteration in tone. The first act was relatively short, but did get out of the way some key points. We are introduced to Sir Claud Amory (Ric Recate), a wealthy country squire armed with a chemical formula. He lives with his sister Caroline Amory (Liza Goddard), his son Richard (Ben Nealon), his niece Barbara (Felicity Houlbrooke) and Richard's Italian wife Lucia (Olivia Mace). There is also a secretary called Raynor (Mark Jackson) Italian doctor called Dr Carelli (Gary Mavers) staying at the house, so he's obviously a suspect!
Read more after the jump...

Hercule Poirot: On stage and screen

Robert Powell is the latest actor to take on the role of Agatha Christie's genius creation Hercule Poirot. Here's a look at the actors who came before him. 

New Contemporary Agatha Christie Book Covers

Harper Collins have released brand new covers for six of Agatha Christie's best Hercule Poirot mysteries.

The novels in question are six Poirot stories: Death on the Nile, The Labours of Hercules, Dead Man's Folly, Mrs McGinty's Dead, Cat Among the Pigeons and Evil Under the Sun. They are available to buy on Amazon, as well as the previous seven new books in a boxed set or individually.

See the pictures after the jump

All you need to know about Tommy and Tuppence

©ITV

With the news that Tommy and Tuppence are going to be portrayed in a new BBC series starring David Walliams, here are some facts on the detective duo in question. 

The characters of Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley first appeared in Agatha Christie's second novel The Secret Adversary in 1922. They had previously met each other, but were reunited at a tube station at the start of the novel. In that novel, they worked together as spies, trying to find the identity of a rogue agent Mr Brown and save a girl from kidnapping. At the end, they marry.

In 1924, they returned in a series of short stories called Partners in Crime, where the newlyweds start their own detective agency. They solve murders, mysteries, jewel thefts and a case of forged bank notes. In their second novel N or M?, an older Tommy and Tuppence are once again employed by MI5 to find two Nazi agents known as N and M. By then they have two grown up children: Derek and Deborah, but at the end of the novel they adopt a girl.

About twenty years later, in 1968, Agatha Christie wrote By The Pricking of my Thumbs, where an elderly Tommy and Tuppence solve a murder connected to an old people's home and a dangerous serial killer. Their last novel is The Postern of Fate, first published in 1973, where the retired sleuths investigate a past case and the ghosts of their house.

They have been portrayed on TV twice. Once in the 1980's in the series Partner's in Crime. James Warwick and Francesca Annis starred as the duo in ten hour-long episodes and one feature-length film. They were also played by Anthony Andrews and Greta Scacchi in a Marple adaption of By The Pricking of my Thumbs, alongside Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple.

David Walliams is due to play the role of Tommy in a new Partners in Crime series coming in 2015.  The role of Tuppence has not yet been cast.

BBC is the home of Agatha Christie on TV

Harper Collins

The BBC signs a new deal to bring new Agatha Christie adaptions to the small screen. 

The broadcasting company have announced a new series entitled Partners In Crime, based on the stories of Tommy and Tuppence. Actor David Walliams will take on the role of Tommy Beresford; his counterpart Tuppence has yet to be cast. The six-part series will be based on two of Christie's novels: The Secret Adversary and N or M? and will be set in the 1950's. The first three episodes are based on The Secret Adversary, which will be adapted by award winning writer Zinnie Harris, due for release in 2015.

David Walliams said "In bringing these thrilling stories to screen, it is our ambition for Tommy and Tuppence to finally take their rightful place alongside Poirot and Marple as iconic Agatha Christie characters."

That's not all, the BBC have commissioned a three part adaption of Christie's masterpiece And Then There Were None, which will be adapted by Sarah Phelps. It is due for release at Christmas 2015, to tie in with the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth.

With this news, it transpires that there won't be another series of Marple starring Julia McKenzie, as ITV have confirmed. The channel has been associated with the Christie Estate for sometime, having adapted both Poirot and Marple stories in the last decade as well as a Tommy and Tuppence series in the 1980's.

Matthew Pritchard, Christie's grandson said "It is fantastic that, in her all-important 125th anniversary year, my grandmother is to be welcomed with such enthusiasm to the BBC: a wonderful new home for the much-loved characters and their stories, and one which she would be delighted with."

What do you think of this exciting news? Leave a comment or tweet me @AChristieWeb

REVIEW: Sparkling Cyanide (2003)

ITV

Based on Agatha Christie's 1945 novel, Sparkling Cyanide was adapted by Laura Lamson as a one off TV film, which was directed by Tristam Powell. It was first broadcast in the UK on 5th October 2003.

Story 

Colonel Geoffrey Reese and his wife Dr Kate Kendall investigate when a young woman is poisoned with potassium cyanide in a classy London nightclub among a group of her friends.

The one major change brought about by Lamson is to modernise the film by removing it from the original 1950's time period and 'dumping' it in the 21st century. So, this means that there are computers, mobile phones and forensic crimes scenes in Agatha Christie. She also turns George Barton into a football manager and Mr Fitzgerald or 'Fizz' in this film, into a football player, which gives this film a trashy feel. But when you get this out of the way the film is not bad.

The original detective of the novel, Colonel Race is renamed Reese and given a partner in crime, his wife: Dr Kate Kendall. They are both retired from the original professions and are now employed by the government as freelance detectives, this time solving a murder. The plot remains relatively close the the original a part from the time setting, but there are still changes. For example, the action is all contained within the space of about a week rather than two years.

Direction, location, soundtrack 

Tristam Powell's direction suits the modern film, with flashy lighting techniques used in the nightclub sequences. But for the rest of the film, it's nothing really to write home about, it just serves it's purpose and doesn't use any flashy or elaborate camera techniques that we have perhaps grown used to in the Poirot and Marple series.

Cast and characters

The characters of Colonel Reese and Dr Kendall remind me somewhat of an older Tommy and Tuppence as they both solves crimes together and are married. The relationship between Oliver Ford Davies and Pauline Collins is great, they have a good chemistry.