WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION

A young man accused of an elderly woman’s death has only one alibi: his wife. Will that help or hurt his defense? Witness for the Prosecution, a drama based upon one of best-selling crime writer Agatha Christie’s short stories will be performed by North Bay Stage Company at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts East Auditorium in Santa Rosa. Show times for this three week engagement are May 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17.

Published originally as Traitor Hands (Flynn’s Weekly, UK) in January 1925, it reached America in 1948 in the collection The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories.

“The twists and turns of the plot keep the audience in suspense and provide challenging roles for the actors,” says John DeGaetano, artistic director for North Bay Stage Company, a resident company of the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts.

The cast includes Frances Rennie, Laura Davies, Len Auclair, Len Improta, Marcia Schwartz, Margaret Griffin, Margie Loesch, Matt Witthaus, Rebecca Allington, Robert Zelenka, Sam Cardenas, Stephen Cannon, and Tim Shippey. Crew includes stage manager Becky West, costumes by Jamie Smith and set design by Darius Hamilton-Smith.

According to DeGaetano a courtroom drama production of this nature, produced by Kathy Taylor and directed by Carl Hamilton “hasn’t been done for quite some time in our area.”

North Bay Stage Company is a resident theatre company of Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. Upcoming productions the 2015 Grand Gala June 18th, Les Miserables in-Concert June 30 and West Side Story July 17 through August 2. For details: northbaystageco.org.

Witness for the Prosecution show dates are May 1, 2, 8, 9, 10*, 15, 16, 17*, 2015 (8pm, or *Sunday Matinees 2pm). Tickets are $26 and can be purchased at wellsfargocenterarts.org , by phone at 707-546-3600 and at WFCA box office (open 7 days, noon to 6pm.)