Last night I was fortunate enough to go see the final dress rehearsal of the Flay Rock Playhouse production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution. Angie's directing it and a number of familiar faces from NC Stage were gracing the stage, so I went in expecting a good show. This was only the second Flat Rock show I've seen, but they've both been outstanding, and also in non-traditional spaces.
My first FRP experience was last summer seeing 12 Angry Men in the Historic Courthouse and Witness is in their new downtown Hendersonville space on S. Main Street, or Playhouse Downtown, as it's called. Its setup is that of theatre in the round, so there's seating on every side of the set, and really, no matter where you're seated, you have a good view of the action. And action there's plenty. I hadn't read or seen any Agatha Christie prior to seeing the play, I'm sorry to say, but, wow, she was a talented writer. And speaking of talent, the ten (or was it nine? There's some double-casting) actors really made the play pop.
Angie asked us not to reveal the ending, so I won't, but, boy, are there a LOT of plot twists. Kind of unbelievable how intricate and detailed Christie gets... it reminded me of a story I heard on NPR about her writing and the writing of some nuns that was analyzed to study the progression of Alzheimer's.
But I'm getting off track... go see Witness for the Prosecution at Playhouse Downtown. You won't regret it. Trust me.
Oooo... trust is a kind of creepy word after seeing that play.
Some of the faces that will be familiar to NC Stage patrons are Willie Repoley, Michael MacCauley, Vivian Smith, Andrew Livingston, Janie Bushway, Ralph Redpath, Kermit Brown, Chris Allison...he lovely Brenna Yeary is also in the cast!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big mystery fan but that cast has me salivating! I guess I'm off to buy some tickets. Can't wait to see the new space either!
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