Witness for the Prosecution playing at the County Hall
County Hall is an imposing building, suitable for high courtroom drama.
As such, Agatha Christie’s murder mystery Witness for the Prosecution is the perfect fit.
The play has proved extremely popular. An eighth cast of actors has been announced.
Harry Reid will be playing Leonard Vole, a suspected villain, for the second time.
Having appeared as Ben Mitchell in the TV soap EastEnders, he is perhaps ideally positioned to portray a rough and ready type.
Reid will star alongside Naomi Sheldon as his wife, Romaine.
She has a strong theatre background as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, having trod the boards at Trafalgar Studios and The Old Red Lion.
Dugald Bruce-Lockhart will appear as Defence Barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts, while Justin Avoth will be getting into character as the prosecutor.
The unique ticketing plan allows a limited number of audience members to sit in the jury box.
They are warned to shut out everything but the trial, creating an expectation that they could be called upon to deliver judgement at any moment.
You can hear people reacting to the hearing in hushed tones and the occasional involuntary gasp.
These are sound effects piped into the space, but are indistinguishable from any real time chatter. It all adds to the illusion of sitting in the gallery at a trial.
Every time a witness is summoned to the stand, their name is called down an outside corridor in a deep, foreboding tone, taking advantage of the building’s powerful acoustics.
In a show like this, actors come and go, but the actual venue is integral to the telling of the tale.
Picture: Harry Reid as Leonard Vole Picture: Ellie Kurttz