Press Release Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions present Witness for the Prosecution By Agatha Christie BRAND NEW PRODUCTION OF WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION BY AGATHA CHRISTIE TO OPEN ON THE SOUTH BANK THIS AUTUMN DIRECTED BY LUCY BAILEY IT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE MAGNIFICENT CHAMBER IN LONDON COUNTY HALL AUDIENCES WILL BE IN THE HEART OF THE ACTION IN THE SPECTACULAR COURT ROOM SETTING 10 OFF ALL TICKETS DURING PREVIEWS Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions today announce a major new production of Agatha Christie s Witness for the Prosecution to open on London s South Bank this October in a unique court room setting inside County Hall. Lucy Bailey (Comus, The Graduate, Titus Andronicus) will direct this gripping tale of justice, passion and betrayal, with the audience thrillingly placed in the thick of the action in a spectacular location. This will be the first major London production of a play written by Agatha Christie to open since the 1960s. Witness for the Prosecution will run from 6 October 11 March with Press Night on 23 October. The production will be designed by William Dudley, with lighting by Chris Davey and sound design by Mic Pool. All tickets during the preview period (6 October 23 October) will have 10 off. For the main run, there will be 100 tickets available for every performance at 25 or under. Leonard Vole is accused of murdering a widow to inherit her wealth. The stakes are high. Will Leonard survive the shocking witness testimony? Will he be able to convince the jury of his innocence and escape the hangman s noose? Witness for the Prosecution was one of Agatha Christie s favourites of all her works. In her autobiography, she said: One night at the theatre stands out in my memory especially; the first night of Witness for the Prosecution. I can safely say that that was the only first night I have enjoyed. It was one of my plays that I like best myself. The new production has been developed with the support and involvement of the Christie family. Christie s Great Grandson and Executive Chair of Agatha Christie Ltd, James Prichard said It is really exciting to see this innovative approach to one of my great
grandmother s best plays. The amazing setting of County Hall will help raise the production to great heights, and with Lucy Bailey directing it will be a must see theatre event. This show will help demonstrate that Christie s works are as relevant today as they have ever been, and 21st century London is in for a treat. Witness for the Prosecution is part of an exciting new wave of adaptations of Christie s work on stage and screen that are giving audiences a fresh perspective on her canon. It follows the highly acclaimed BBC One adaptation of the short story which aired last Christmas and starred Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough and Kim Cattrall, as well as the BBC s And Then There Were None which starred Aidan Turner, Charles Dance and Sam Neill. The BBC has commissioned seven new adaptations with the first of these, Ordeal By Innocence going into production this summer. In November, 20th Century Fox s feature film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express will be released, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh. The all-star cast also includes Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr, Sergei Polunin and Lucy Boynton. - ENDS - For further information please contact Laura Myers or Hannah Barnett Leveson at The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 or email laura@thecornershoppr.com hannahbl@thecornershoppr.com NOTES TO EDITORS IMAGE Available here LISTINGS Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions present Witness for the Prosecution By Agatha Christie Directed by Lucy Bailey Designed by William Dudley Lighting Design by Chris Davey Sound Design by Mic Pool London County Hall The Chamber, County Hall, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 7PB 6 October 2017 11 March 2018 Press Night 23 October, 7pm Box Office: 0844 815 7141 Online: www.witnesscountyhall.com PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Until 22 October: Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm and matinees on Thursday and Saturday, 2.30pm 25 October - 11 March: Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and matinees on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm and Sunday at 3pm
See website for performances 24 December 9 January TICKET PRICES Band A 52.50 Band B 39.50 Band C 25 Band D 10 Premium 75 VIP 95 No booking fees if booked via the official website Preview Pricing is 10 off all prices above (excluding Band D) up to and including Wednesday 18th October 100 tickets at 25 or under are available for each performance Our exclusive VIP Jury Ticket will place you in the heart of the courtroom action, with access to a private bar area. Jurors will receive a complimentary programme and 2 complimentary drinks (soft drink, beer or house wine) to be redeemed pre-show or at the interval. Website: www.witnesscountyhall.com Twitter: @WitnessPlayLDN Facebook: /WitnessPlayLDN BIOGRAPHIES AGATHA CHRISTIE PLAYWRIGHT Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and, in many languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott. Agatha Christie s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was written towards the end of the First World War, in which she served in the VAD. In it she created Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective who was destined to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. It was published by Bodley Head in 1920. In 1926, after averaging a book a year, Agatha Christie wrote her first masterpiece. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was the first of her books to be published by Collins and marked the beginning of an author-publisher relationship that lasted for 50 years and well over 70 books. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was also the first of Agatha Christie s books to be dramatized under the title Alibi and to have a successful run in London s West End. The Mousetrap, her most successful play of all, opened in 1952 and is the longest-running play in history. She is also the only female playwright to have had three of her works running in the West End simultaneously. Agatha Christie was made a dame in 1971. She died in 1976. LUCY BAILEY - DIRECTOR Recent productions include The Graduate (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Comus (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), and Kenny Morgan (Arcola Theatre). Lucy was co-founder and co-artistic director of The Print Room (2009 2012), a new venue in Notting Hill Gate. Shows she directed include Fabrication, Snake in the Grass, Kingdom of Earth and
Uncle Vanya. Lucy was co-artistic director of the gogmagogs (1995 2007) a music theatre company comprising seven string players. Lucy studied English at Oxford University where she directed the world premiere of Lessness by Samuel Beckett in consultation with the author. Previous work for Shakespeare s Globe includes Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, Timon of Athens, As You Like It and The Maid s Tragedy. Other theatre credits include Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Around the World in 80 Days (St James Theatre), Gaslight (Northampton Royal & Derngate), The Importance of Being Ernest (West End/ UK tour), Fortunes Fool (Old Vic), King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath), The Winter s Tale, Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar (RSC/ Roundhouse/ The Armoury, New York), Beggar s Opera (Regent s Park Open Air Theatre), Private Lives, Glass Eels, Comfort Me with Apples (Hampstead Theatre), The Night Season (National Theatre/ West End) and Don t Look Now (Sheffield Crucible/ Lyric Hammersmith). Opera/Music Theatre credits include Gudrun Fier Sang (Copenhagen Dry Dock), Jenufa (English National Opera), Cheryoumushki 1958 (Lyric Hammersmith), Noyes Fludde, Triptych, Mary of Egypt (Aldeburgh Festival) and Pasolini s Teorema (Maggio Musicale Florence/ Munich Biennale/ Queen Elizabeth Hall). WILLIAM DUDLEY DESIGNER William Dudley s distinguished career as a designer of theatre and opera has been recognised with seven Olivier awards and a further seven nominations. He won a BAFTA for Persuasion. In April 2015 he won the Molière Award for Visual Creation for The Dance of the Vampires in Paris. He has designed over sixty productions at the National Theatre, including The Mysteries, Coast of Utopia and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. At the Royal Court he designed Hamlet, Kafka s Dick and Hitchcock Blonde (Oliver Award). Work at the RSC includes Julius Caesar (also New York), Merry Wives of Windsor (Olivier Award), Twelfth Night, Richard II & III and A Midsummer Night s Dream. West End productions include The End of the Rainbow, All My Sons, Woman in White, My Night with Reg and Lenny, with many transfers to the USA. Recent work includes Comus (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), Ross, The Rehearsal and For Services Rendered (Chichester Festival Theatre), Gaslight (Northampton Royal & Derngate), The Importance of Being Earnest (West End/ UK Tours), Fortune s Fool (Old Vic), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare s Globe) and Fings Ain t Wot They Used T Be (Theatre Royal Stratford East). William designed the sets for Roman Polanski s musical The Dance of the Vampires (Vienna/ Berlin/ Paris/ Russia), The Ship (European Cultural Capital Glasgow 1990), Peter Pan (Kensington Gardens/ O2/ US Tours), The Last Confession (World Tour) and Sunday in the Park with George (Théâtre du Châtelet). Operas include productions for Bayreuth, Salzburg, the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Royal Opera House, English National Opera and Glyndebourne. CHRIS DAVEY LIGHTING DESIGNER Chris has designed extensively for Shared Experience Theatre, Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Royal Exchange Manchester, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Birmingham Rep and Manchester International Festival. For the National Theatre credits include Or You Could Kiss Me, Beyond the Horizon, Spring Storm, Harper Regan, The Seagull, The Pillars of the Community, A Dream Play, Iphigenia at Aulis, War and Peace, Baby Doll and The Colour of Justice. Work for the RSC includes Titus Andronicus, Twelfth Night, The Winter s Tale, Pericles, Cymbeline, Alice in Wonderland, Night of the Soul, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night s Dream, Everyman (both also in New York) A Month in the Country, Troilus and Cressida, The Comedy of Errors (World Tour), Mysteria and Easter. Recent designs
include 42nd Street (Théâtre du Châtelet), Vamos Cuba (Sadler s Wells), 1984 (Northern Ballet), Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Sweeney Todd (Welsh National Opera/ La Monnaie, Brussels), The Car Man and Lord of the Flies (Matthew Bourne/ Sadler s Wells/ National and International Tours), Carlos Acosta Classical Farewell (Royal Albert Hall), The Driver s Seat (National Theatre of Scotland), The Shawshank Redemption, Dial M for Murder, High Society and Wonderful Town (National Tours), Eventual Progress, Salieri Variations (Ekaterinburgh Opera/ Ballet Theatre, Russia). Chris won the TMA Best Lighting Design for Dial M for Murder (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Beyond the Horizon (Northampton Royal & Derngate). MIC POOL SOUND DESIGNER A Tony Award winner (Best Sound Design in a Play) for the Broadway production of The 39 Steps, Mic s involvement in theatre sound extends over thirty-six years. Mic has been resident at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, Royal Court Theatre, Tyne Theatre Company and toured internationally with Ballet Rambert. He has designed the sound for over 350 productions including more than 250 for West Yorkshire Playhouse where he worked for 23 years as its first head of sound, resident sound designer, associate director and then from 2000 as Director of Creative Technology. He received a TMA award in 1992 for Best Designer (Sound) for Life Is A Dream and was nominated for both the Lucille Lortel and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design 2001 for the New York production of The Unexpected Man. Mic was nominated for eight international awards for productions of The 39 Steps worldwide, including the 2007 Olivier Award. ELEANOR LLOYD PRODUCTIONS PRODUCER Current productions include Witness for the Prosecution (London County Hall) and 1984 (Broadway). Eleanor Lloyd Productions is also currently general managing the UK Tours of Fantastic Mr Fox (Nuffield Southampton Theatres/ Leicester Curve/ Lyric Hammersmith) and Death of a Salesman (Northampton Royal & Derngate). Previous West End productions include Nell Gwynn (Olivier Award for Best New Comedy), three seasons of 1984, My Night with Reg (Olivier Nomination for Best Revival), Handbagged (Olivier Nomination for Best New Comedy), Butley, Alex with Robert Bathurst (also International Tour). The company s West End credits as an Associate Producer include Jeeves & Wooster, Sweeney Todd and Clybourne Park. Other productions include Handbagged (UK Tour), The Secret Adversary (Watermill Theatre/ UK Tour), Love, Loss & Chianti (Chichester Festival Theatre), This is Ceilidh (Edinburgh Festival/ London Wonderground), Noel Gay s Radio Times (UK Tour), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Hamlet! The Musical (Northampton Royal & Derngate/ Richmond Theatre), At Home with Mrs Moneypenny (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Marine Parade by Simon Stephens & Mark Eitzel (ETT/animalink), Gambling (Soho Theatre), Stewart Lee s Johnson and Boswell (Traverse Theatre), Elizabeth and Raleigh (Underbelly) and Colin Teevan s Missing Persons: Four Tragedies And Roy Keane with Greg Hicks (Edinburgh Festival Fringe/ West End). Eleanor Lloyd has worked for the Royal Court and Gate Theatres, Mark Rubinstein and Jenny Topper. She is the Producer for Peepolykus. Eleanor was awarded a Stage One Producer s Bursary in 2005, a Start-Up Fund award in 2011 and she was a finalist in the British Council s Young Performing Arts Entrepreneur Award. Eleanor sits on the Board of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), Theatre 503 and Oxford Playhouse. www.elproductions.co.uk. REBECCA STAFFORD PRODUCTIONS PRODUCER Rebecca Stafford is an independent theatre producer and general manager. Rebecca s work has always sought to be on the leading edge of how drama and comedy are presented to the public. Her particular area of expertise is producing site-specific and event theatre inside prestigious heritage sites.
Recent productions include Frankenstein Revelations, Moby Dick, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (York Theatre Royal) and the Regional Tours of Witness for the Prosecution and Sherlock Holmes and the Speckled Band. Rebecca was awarded a Stage One Producer s Bursary in early 2016, supported by the Society of London Theatres (SOLT). Her site-specific productions have been voted one of the Top 12 Regional Productions of 2014 and 2015 by The Stage. Rebecca is credited as being the originating producer for the first ever site-specific staging of Agatha Christie s Courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution. www.rebeccastafford.co.uk AGATHA CHRISTIE LIMITED Agatha Christie Limited (ACL) has been managing the literary and media rights to Agatha Christie's works around the world since 1955, working with the best talents in film, television, publishing, stage and on digital platforms to ensure that Christie s work continues to reach new audiences in innovative ways and to the highest standard. The company is managed by Christie s great grandson James Prichard. November 2017 will see the release of 20th Century Fox s feature film adaptation of Agatha Christie s acclaimed mystery, Murder on the Orient Express. The film will be directed by five-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, who will also star as Poirot. Branagh helms an all-star cast that includes Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr, Sergei Polunin and Lucy Boynton. ACL s recent television projects include the critically-acclaimed BBC One adaptations of And Then There Were None (Aidan Turner, Charles Dance, Sam Neill) and The Witness for the Prosecution (Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough, Kim Cattrall), both produced by ACL s production arm Agatha Christie Productions alongside Mammoth Screen, with screenplays from Sarah Phelps (Great Expectations, The Casual Vacancy). Production begins shortly on Ordeal By Innocence, the first of seven new adaptations for the BBC over the course of the next four years. Globally, ACL works closely with leading screen production companies to deliver territory-specific adaptations. Notable productions include the popular French series Les Petits Meurtres d Agatha Christie produced by Escazal, and Japanese adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express from Fuji TV (winner of the Tokyo Grand Prix Drama Award) and the forthcoming And Then There Were None from TV Asahi. Further projects are in development in Europe, the US, Asia and Latin America. In 2016 literary projects included the global publication of the new Hercule Poirot novel Closed Casket, the second continuation novel from bestselling crime writer Sophie Hannah, published in more than 30 languages and distributed in over 100 territories. Sophie will shortly begin work on two more Poirot novels for publication in 2018 and 2020.