STAGE REVIEW : A ‘Prosecution’ That Doesn’t Make Its Case

The final installment in the Golden West College 11th annual Summer MysteryFest, Agatha Christie’s “Witness for the Prosecution,” opened Thursday, and considering the bad reviews this Fest’s first two productions got, it would be nice to report that the third time is the charm.

Alas, this is not the case.

“Witness for the Prosecution,” first produced in London in 1953 and said to be Christie’s own favorite of her plays, follows the trial of Leonard Vole (David J. Kelso), a young man accused of murdering a wealthy older woman. It should crackle. But at Golden West, it lacks tension.

Director Steven Jay Warner keeps everything efficiently paced, but it’s not involving. To be fair, this play is a quaint work, tame and old-fashioned by contemporary standards, even if it is considered a classic. The plot isn’t especially tricky, the red herrings not particularly tantalizing. Still, there’s more to it than this staging indicates.

The basic relationships among the characters carry shades of intrigue. Vole, we learn, has been spending quite a bit of time with the victim and was seen with her the night she was bludgeoned. He has much to gain by her death--English pounds, pots and pots of them.

Vole is a likable sort, and his protests of innocence seem convincing. He even has a tidy alibi provided by his wife (Alice Ensor), who claims Vole was with her at the time of the murder. But she’s a strange, suspicious woman . . . .

At Thursday night’s performance, at least two actors lapsed in and out of British accents, and overall, the skill of the cast didn’t extend beyond competence. Sometimes it was less than that.

There is something to like, though, in Charles P. Davis’ sets. By collegiate standards, they’re rather professional-looking, particularly the re-creation of a stately wood-paneled English courtroom.

‘Witness for the Prosecution’

A Golden West College Summer MysteryFest production of Agatha Christie’s play, directed by Steven Jay Warner. With Eric Schiffer, Sandy Trullinger, Eric Hansen, Tom Hearn, David J. Kelso, Terry Vila, Scott Williams, Alice Ensor, Reed Boyer, Paul Meitzler, Geoffrey Jason, Blake Ellis, Jim Slabacheski, David Zebe, Bernie Bank, John Townsend, Lorraine Partridge, Bill Ertle, Christine Gerthe and Julie Elizabeth Brown. Sets by Charles P. Davis. Lighting by Leslie Ann Barry. Sound by David Edwards. Costumes by Trish Farnsworth. Continues Sunday at 3 p.m., July 9 through 11 and 16 through 18 at 8 p.m. in the campus Mainstage Theatre, 15744 Golden West St., Huntington Beach. Tickets: $8 and $10. (714) 895-8378.