TWELVE ANGRY MEN AT THE ARTS THEATRE
A stern disembodied judge orders the Twelve Angry Men into a Jury room. The stakes are high – His Honour will accept only a unanimous verdict. .The jury have a life in their hands and a murder on their minds. As they shuffle into the heated atmosphere of the Fifties New York Court ante- room, the long sweaty procedure begins. The audience spent most of it on the edge of our seats. This is a brilliant play with a stunning cast. Twelve talented actors give us a raft of American males – and from the start they are indeed furious. Hot, resentful keen to leave and get back to their own lives.
And what lives they are. Where else would such a collection of characters ever meet for more than a few moments?. It’s a bit like a maternity ward in Britain. The Court is a great leveller. Each character brings his own style into the room. There’s the architect dissident ( a brilliant Jason Merrells in the lead role ) with his cool crumpled linen outfit, a man in a dark tailored suit ( Mark Heenehan keeps his brilliant composure to an exciting end )‘I’m a Broker’ he snaps to an enquiry from Michael Greco as the fast talking Bronx wide boy. Gray O’Brien who puts the Angry into the title displays a muscular physique under a close fitting office outfit works up an explosive fury through the action – matched only by Tristan Gemmill with his shocking outbursts of aggression and unquenchable stubborn self-hatred. Quiet and calm Samarge Hamilton plays the only man of colour in a seething cauldron of prejudice with stylish confidence in a lovely blue two piece .His swtich to his knife skills shines a light on his slum upbringing – a hard act to balance so brilliantly. And on it goes, the foreman of the jury Owen Oldroyd tasked with the discipline of this team exudes an inner strength . Just as well, at times the drama looks set to explode into the auditorium, yes, it is as powerful as that.
Genius playwright Reginald Rose wrote this drama after a spelll as a juror. In one spectacular insight, he saw the scope it could present. In fact the artificial intimacy of the Court room decision chamber is already akin to a play. Rose turned it in for TV and then a film. But he himself realised Twelve Angry Men is meant for the stage. There we sat, an audience in the airless impatience of one room, ready to share the action as a group of men charged with a terrible dilemma, settle down to business.
One by one the Twelve reveal their characters. Beleaguered from the beginning, some of them , Paul Lavers for instance as a sensitive juror, Paul Beech who brilliantly battles the bullying to slip in a key question to turn the action and Kenneth Jay who eventually faces down the fury with some wonderfully pitched speeches.
This production has everything. It draws the audience into a complex ‘scene of the crime’ matrix, it never flags and never flinches. You will see life as lived from outside braggadocio to interior agony, from society’s failings to the staunch spirit of defiance. It is a triumph of theatre, quite brilliant. Get a ticket for a rollercoaster of a ride through life and death .
