London: Agatha Christie’s renowned drama Witness for the Prosecution marked its 100th anniversary on Friday, continuing to captivate audiences with the thrilling twists of a murder trial.
First published on January 31, 1925, under the title Traitor Hands, Christie’s short story about a young man accused of murdering a wealthy widow has since been adapted for stage, film, and television.
“It’s an incredibly good story. She has found a plot whereby everybody is led down one particular path. Because it’s Christie, you’re looking for the tricks. Then she gives you a twist at the end that you cannot believe,” said theatre producer Eleanor Lloyd.
Lloyd’s stage production of Witness for the Prosecution has been running for eight years in London. However, unlike traditional theatres, the production is staged at London County Hall, a former government building that allows the audience to sit as if they were in an actual courtroom.
“There’s nothing scary about it from an audience point of view. You just experience it in a different setting,” Lloyd explained. From the moment they hand in their tickets, audience members are transported to a 1950s courtroom.
Adapted by Christie herself, the first-ever stage production of Witness for the Prosecution opened in 1953. It was then made into a film in 1957, directed by Billy Wilder, featuring Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, and Tyrone Power. In 2016, the BBC turned it into a television series.
Reflecting on its enduring appeal, Lloyd noted that the play taps into timeless themes of “humans judging other humans.”
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“Christie is very good at thinking about our prejudices and our assumptions as humans, and who we warm to and who we don’t warm to. And she plays into all those stereotypes and then surprises us,” she said.
Born in the south of England in 1890, Christie became the world’s best-selling fiction writer, with her crime novels selling an estimated 2 billion copies in 44 languages. Christie passed away in 1976, but her legacy continues.
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“I don’t think she’s going anywhere. I think she’s more popular than she’s ever been,” Lloyd said.
The current stage production of Witness for the Prosecution is booking until September 28, 2025.
