It has been a long journey to bring this case – I mean play – to court!
It would be remiss of me not to thank those people who have helped and supported me on the journey. Firstly, I must thank chief executive of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council William Benson who put me in touch with Chief Inspector Peter Steenhuis – and for taking this crazy idea of mine seriously! Without their continued support throughout this and their ability to share my vision and see the potential this would never have happened.
I have had further support and hard work from Police Sergeant Patrick Griffiths who has had the far from easy task of coordinating all the various departments within the police to ensure that this all ran smoothly. He has taken in his stride admirably the prospect of actors running around his courtroom!
In the casting process I had the support and wise counsel of Becky Waight and Felicia de Angeli from Trinity guiding me through the amazing 2198 actors who applied to be in the production. We were determined to present the most diverse and talented cast that we could and I was thrilled to have the support of the rights holders in this. I think you may be interested and know that some of the genders of the cast are not as originally intended by the playwright!
Trinity’s marketing team of Elizabeth Mahoney and Ollie Freeman have worked hard on the marketing of the production creating all the various details that have made it more “real” for our audience. It is also due to Lizzie that we secured the services of her husband Major Warren Mahoney RHA who has acted as military advisor to a number of productions including Warhorse!
I must also thank Dawn Gabriel and Lisa Bridges from the Assembly Hall for their support and provision of front of house facilities so that you our jurors don’t have to walk too far!
I’m also incredibly grateful to Jocelyn Cheek for all her work in creating new health and safety procedures and fire evacuation procedures for the building and also coordinating the front of house team.
Finally I must thank firstly our wonderful volunteers who have agreed to be Ushers – and who I think quite enjoying swishing around in black capes!😉 They were integral to creating the “reality” of the audience’s experience.
And secondly the incredibly dedicated and talented cast of actors who have been a joy to work with exploring and bringing to life this wonderful play!
This is I believe Tunbridge Wells’s 1st site-specific immersive piece of theatre and its success is primarily down to 3 factors, the wonderful location, the brilliant play and the exceptional cast!
Not only did it meet with fabulous audience feedback – the initial three week run sold out within days and when we extended the run by a further week that too sold out within 48 hours!
For what was my farewell production with Trinity I couldn’t have possibly asked for a better finalé!
John Martin
Trinity Theatre and John Martin Production gratefully acknowledges
the support of Arts Council England for this production
