Leonard Vole is accused of murdering widow and lover Emily French to inherit her wealth. Vole’s wife is the witness for the prosecution. The stakes are high. Will Leonard survive the shocking witness testimony? Can he convince the jury of his innocence?  COLD Theatre 7 (CT7) presents Agatha Christie’s thrilling courtroom drama, Witness for the Prosecution, this November at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Witness for Prosecution is a play adapted from Christie’s 1925 short story ‘Traitor’s Hands’ and this uniquely staged play combines all the thrills of an Agatha Christie mystery with a shocking finale only a Christie production could deliver. 

For director Kevin Cruze and the CT7, Witness for the Prosecution will be their third Christie production following 2013’s ‘And Then There Were None’ and 2015’s ‘The Mousetrap’. The production was originally meant to be showcased in May 2021 but was postponed several times due to the covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. In July 2022, Cruze made the call to go ahead with the production for November, alternating between in-person and zoom rehearsals amid the fuel crisis. 

Witness for the Prosecution is CT7’s seventh production and interestingly, it also marks 7 years since their last Christie production.  A personal fan of murder mysteries, Kevin recalls the first time he read the play, remembering the story as one that had him immediately intrigued. “I was on the edge of my seat. I just couldn’t figure it out.” As a director, this is where Kevin feels he can do the most justice to the author and the audience.

“If I can’t figure it out towards the end, that’s where the author wins me over; that’s where I think I can do justice to the script. When I read Witness for the Prosecution, I knew I could do it well, I could project the mystery and the suspense to the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats.” 

A good script deserves an equally great cast and Witness for the Prosecution brings together a variety of stage personalities from different spectrums; starring Taariq Jurangpathy as Leonard Vole, Melanie Bibile as Romaine Vole, Abbasali Rozais as Sir Wilfrid Robarts, Mahesh Senaratne as Mr Myers, Niren Ranasinghe as John Mayhew, Dinushka Jayawickrema as Janet Mackenzie, Kovindu De Seram as Inspector Hearne, Yohan Kurera as Dr Wyatt/Thomas Clegg, Mithara Fonseka as Greta, Hashen Ratnayake as Carter/Justice Wainwright, Harshana Rathnayake as the Clerk of the Court, Yusuf Sheriff as the Policeman and Amenthi Weerasinghe as Ms Barton.  “It’s a fantastic cast” adds Kevin, “I’m working with some of them for the first time and they bring fresh energy to the show. It’s a cast with a lot of unique personalities and it’s going to be a very interesting performance.” 

Almost on cue, Taariq Jurangpathy and Niren Ranasinghe join in on the conversation. Taariq plays Leonard Vole, the man believed to be guilty of murder and Niren plays John Mayhew, the defence solicitor of the accused. Taariq describes Leonard as ‘naïve and innocent’; “a gullible man too naïve to realize that every little detail he shares only gets him in more trouble.” Niren on the other hand calls his character ‘orthodox and a conformist’, “a strait-laced solicitor, determined to prove Leonard’s innocence.”  

In the play, Leonard Vole and John Mayhew develop a deep friendship over the course of the show and Taariq and Niren, both sharing a stage together for the first time, have got their dynamics down to the smallest details. Leonard Vole is Taariq’s second major starring role in a play and John Mayhew is Niren’s seventeenth.  While they both approach their roles in their own individual ways, the duo together brings such great energy to their interactions it only validates Kevin’s observations; a cast of such unique personalities will surely deliver an interesting performance.

With a promising cast and a gripping plot, CT7 returns to the stage with their signature genre with Witness for the Prosecution. “If you are into theatre, mystery and suspense, there is nothing better than a Christie.”  In this thrilling tale of justice, passion and betrayal, Witness for the Prosecution will place the audience in the thick of the action. 

Catch the gripping courtroom drama at the Lionel Wendt Theatre from the 17th to the 20th of November 2022. Tickets will be made available soon. For further updates and more information, check out COLD Theatre 7 on Facebook and Instagram or visit www.coldtheatre7.com. This amateur production of “Witness for the Prosecution” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd (www.concordtheatricals.co.uk) 

Pics By Michael Hingert and Sheran Fonseka