The Court
★★★☆☆ Maybe murder
Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41): Fri 2 – Sun 25 Aug 2024
Review by Florence Cruickshanks
Edinburgh Little Theatre’s interactive court-set drama, The Court, finds a middle aged woman accused by her sister of murdering their mother and is run on the Lunchtime Theatre principle of adding a pie and bevvy to the ticket price.
As members of the audience arrive, five of them are recruited as members of the onstage jury, and, at the command of the Usher (Paul Murray, who also directs), the trial begins. The slightly claustrophobic Hill Street Theatre venue and the starkness of the set, create a degree of tension from the start.
Torya Winters, Norma Brown, Paul Murray, Alan Ireby, Hazel Murray and Paul Wilson. Pic: E.L.T.
Is this a mercy killing? A murder? Or manslaughter with mitigating factors? The acting is impressive throughout, with Hazel Murray and Norma Brown excellent as the estranged sisters, both required to improvise when members of the jury, and subsequently of the wider audience, are given the opportunity to ask questions.
Both respond fluently in character – no small feat given the wide ranging battery of questions to which they are exposed. The court officials are convincingly played by Alan Ireby (Judge), Torya Winters (Defence Lawyer), and Paul Wilson (Prosecution Lawyer).
For those visiting the production’s sister play: Murder on the Fringe (★★★☆☆ Fun exercise) it is interesting to encounter the same actors in different roles.
Members of the audience have their sympathies drawn first one way then the other, as new information is revealed about the sisters and their relationships with each other and with other family members. Realistically, neither sister inspires undiluted sympathy.
At this performance a vote taken midway through the proceedings, before the jury’s questions are put, compared with a final vote, showed an interesting change of heart on the part of some participants.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Hill Street Theatre (Dunedin Theatre, 19 Hill Street, EH2 3JP (Venue 41)
Friday 2 August – Sunday 25 August 2024
Daily: 11.45am
Details and tickets at: Book here
Website: https://edinburghlittletheatre.com
ENDS
