Twelve Angry Men - Lichfield Garrick Review

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Mon 08 Apr 2024 - Sat 13 Apr 2024

It was written exactly 70 years ago this year. And, it is sad to say that one of the core elements of this gripping court-based drama remains true to this day in various corners of this world. A 16-year-old youth is on trial in America for first-degree murder, with the electric chair awaiting him if he is found guilty of stabbing his apparently abusive father to death. The jury seems alarmingly quick to condemn the boy to death despite three days of intense courtroom evidence. But then juror number eight says he has 'reasonable doubts' about the boy's guilt and becomes the lone voice to acquit him.

Where, sadly, parallels can still be drawn with 1954, when Reginald Rose penned this classic thriller, is in the racist views of one of the jury members. Although the defendant's colour or race is never directly referred to during the course of the play, juror number 10 refers to the boy on trial as 'one of them', and later goes on a bigoted rant as tensions and tempers flare up in the jury deliberation room.



Twelve Angry Men, which was made into a 1957 film starring Henry Fonda and Lee J Cobb, is currently appearing at the [www.lichfieldgarrick.com Lichfield Garrick] theatre in Staffordshire as part of a 2024 tour following a successful run in London's West End. The Bill Kenwright production is both powerful and riveting as juror 8, brilliantly played by Jason Merrells, seeks to convince the other 11 members of the jury that justice was not delivered in the courtroom. He accuses the court-appointed defence solicitor of not doing his job properly, and raises doubts about the apparently convincing eye-witness testimony produced by the prosecution, while all the while being accused of creating 'wild stories'.

The Lichfield Garrick stage is dominated throughout the entire play by a large table in the middle of the set which depicts the jury deliberation room and the adjoining bathroom area. Almost imperceptibly, the table slowly revolves on a circular area of the stage to give the audience an equal view of the jurors as they deliberate the defendant's fate following juror number 8's not guilty verdict.



All of the remaining 12 jurors after Jason Merrells are played equally splendidly, from Gray O'Brien's bigoted juror 10 and Tristan Gemmill, who is seemingly even more convinced of the boy's guilt, to Mark Heenehan as the calm, imposing stock market trader. But all of the other characters, from a marmalade salesman to an immigrant watch-maker, are performed with equal conviction and dynamism, in the capable hands of Michael Greco, Gary Webster, Ben Nealon, Paul Beech, Samarge Hamilton, Kenneth Jay, Paul Lavers and jury foreman Owen Oldroyd.

Twelve Angry Men, which maintains the tension right up to the gripping climax, is brilliantly directed by Christopher Haydon. It remains at the Lichfield Garrick until 13 April, with tickets available from www.lichfieldgarrick.com or by calling 01543 412121, before continuing its UK and Ireland tour.



Forthcoming dates
16 - 20 April Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin
23 - 27 April Cambridge Arts Theatre
29 April - 4 May Blackpool Grand
7 - 11 May Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
13 - 18 May Grand Opera House, York

#theatre
#drama
#arts_culture
#tour

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