I'm Blathering Now...

“GUILTY.” A man is sentenced to death in front of your very eyes. Then comes the audible gasp of the audience as the stage in front of them transforms into a gallows and a terrified young man screams his innocence as he looks deep into the abyss below. The audience is mortified…what if he is innocent? What if the jury have got it wrong? Are they sending an innocent man to his death? Witness for the Prosecution was adapted for the stage by Agatha Christie and the premiere was held in 1953 in the Winter Garden Theatre, London. Peter Saunders, Christie’s theatre producer, had suggested that she adapt her short story “Traitor Hands” for the stage. Her response was to tell him that if he wanted a play he’d have to write it himself. Saunders duly took up the challenge, but Agatha was not impressed with his work, dismissing it and writing it again from scratch. Leonard Vole has been accused of murdering a wealthy widow for her money. This is life or death for Vole. As each witness is

We Brits do love to talk about the weather. It’s like some compulsion programmed into our DNA to call over to complete strangers “lovely weather we’re having” or “I don’t like the look of those clouds, storm approaching don't you think?!” So, on this grey, overcast day, with the wind blowing the washing dry (perfect weather for a washing day) I’m sat in the garden with a cup of tea reflecting about the weekend that has passed and the various plays I have seen. I don’t recall learning much about WWII at school. My dad loved war films and war planes, especially Spitfires and so most of my teachings probably came from him. A few years ago, I stayed at a friend’s house in Normandy and we visited the beaches of Gold, Omaha, Juno, Utah and Sword. We drove up to Pegasus Bridge and the museum there and so I knew a little bit about how weather had played an important part of the D-Day landings, but I wasn’t fully aware of James Stagg’s involvement in the success of the mission.