Twelve Angry Men

✭✭✭✭✩    Cleverly committed

Engaging, dynamic and clever, Christopher Haydon’s hit West End production of Twelve Angry Men tours to the King’s Theatre for a week until Saturday.

There is a subtle elegance to this portrayal of Reginald Rose’s 1957 film, which delivers a rollercoaster of emotions, but still manages to maintain a tense and fraught atmosphere.

Tom Conti stars as Juror Number 8. Photo: Twelve Angry Men

In a compelling drama of conscience, Twelve Angry Men tells the tale of a jury tasked with deciding a 16 year old boy’s fate. It’s not the decision between guilt and innocence, but a story of reasonable doubt. Even more, it’s a story about the dynamics of the human psyche, its prejudices and preconceptions and how humans interact with each other.

Haydon’s production is both bold and punchy. It comes out fighting, with plenty of pizzazz and zing with a few dominant unnamed jurors leading the way – namely Andrew Lancel, Sean Power and Dennis Lill as Jurors 3, 7 and 10. They’re loud, they’re brash and they demand attention. It soon becomes apparent that these jurors each have their own motivations. Albeit sometimes a touch overplayed and unnatural, they play a dynamic game that is as engrossing as it is awkward in the quiet American deliberation room.

However, it is the negative space between the shouting and the commotion that is the most compelling. Tom Conti plays Juror number 8, the calm and measured man who is uncomfortable committing a man to the death sentence when reasonable doubt remains. Conti’s performance is subtle; he plays the man with an air of weariness. As he makes his case with the other jurors, he does so with an odd air of defeat, compelling an unrequited interest in his circumstances and situation.

clever and interesting dynamic

Likewise, it is the other quieter characters that also provoke interest. It is the words that are unsaid that seem to matter most. In a particularly taut scene, Juror 5 (Alexander Forsyth) and Juror 11 (Edward Halsted) seek respite in the washroom away from the main prejudiced hullabaloo. Neither say a word, but their actions are deafening, drawing attention. It adds a clever and interesting dynamic on the production that involves the audience in the emotion and minutiae of the moment.

A scene from Twelve Angry Men.

There’s a lot of humour in Rose’s cleverly crafted script. Both intentional and seemingly unintended, and again it’s the negative space that shines. While Gareth David-Lloyd (Juror 12) delivers the contrived humour well as the socially-awkward turncoat, it’s the unexpected moments that inspire laughter as the unlikely personalities interact.

The production also boasts a clever and resourceful set. A seemingly simple table and chairs is transformed, through clever movement, to give the audience clear views from all sides and, at times, providing that sense of claustrophobia of 12 men locked into a small room. The constant Jurors’ Jailor, played by Jon Carver, seated outside the room throughout intensifies this feeling. The lighting and sound effects too are understated but effective, from the scene-setting L-train to the atmospheric thunderstorm as the ambience darkens.

Some of the initial interactions in the first half occasionally feel a little contrived and overplayed. However, far from diminishing from the performance, this exuberance oddly adds to the production. There is no doubt as to the commitment of the cast and creative team who deliver an all-engrossing, all-absorbing, engaging production.

Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes (including interval)
King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street EH3 9LQ
Monday 23 – Saturday 28 February 2015
Evenings: 7.30 pm; Matinee Wednesday, Saturday: 2.30 pm
Tickets from http://www.edtheatres.com/twelveangrymen

Purchase the script and original film from Amazon:

ENDS

Tags: Alexander Forsyth, Andrew Lancel, Christopher Haydon, Dennis Lill, Edward Halsted, Gareth David-Lloyd, Jon Carver, King's Theatre, Reginald Rose, Review, Sean Power, Susan Lowes, Theatre, Tom Conti, Twelve Angry Men