The jury system under the microscope in Twelve Angry Men

London Event Reviews by May B

There seems to be a bit of a trend at the moment of taking great movie classics and producing them on the stage. Some work well, and others don’t. I wasn’t sure about this 1954 play by Reginald Rose that’s fresh from much acclaim in the West End – mainly because I hadn’t seen the film with Henry Fonda which my companion rated very highly.

So. The line-up is impressive. The marvellous Tom Conti takes the lead as juror 8 – his famous charm and quiet confidence were apparent but in this role it didn’t do him in any favours and, like most of the cast, he seemed to struggle with the American accent. Andrew Lancel, as juror 3, was convincing. And Robert Duncan, as juror 4, bought some gravitas to proceedings.

For those unfamiliar with the story it’s about 12 white, male jurors (including those from advertising, architecture, watchmaking, stock broking, football coaching and sales as well as a garage owner and a house painter – very 1950s America) locked in deliberations about whether a 16 year old boy is guilty of killing his father. They need to reach a unanimous decision as the death penalty will follow a guilty verdict.

The focus is on “reasonable doubt”, the nature of “facts”, the reliability of witnesses and, perhaps more worrying, the capability of defence lawyers (there’s a great line: “even the possibility for a lawyer to be just plain simple”). They re-examine the evidence and re-enact key parts of the testimonies to test their veracity.

The set is impressive – truly evocative of an uncomfortably warm 1950s court house. I especially liked the thunderstorm and the rain failing outside the stuffy jury room. And the way that the table rotates so subtly to reflect the shifting views of the jurors.

The first half seemed to move with a little more pace than the second. While it’s not quite a high powered court room drama, it does the job as a thought provoking tension-behind-the-scenes-at-court piece. There’s an examination of the impact of personal experience on the attitudes of jurors as well as some heavy prejudice that’s difficult to hear.

Overall, it’s an interesting study in human nature – reminding us of those famous psychology conformity experiments where human beings feel compelled to agree with a majority view. And it’s a worrying reflection on the reliability of the jury system which underpins both American and British justice.

http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/twelve-angry-men/richmond-theatre/ It’s at Richmond Theatre until 2nd May.

Posted Date
Apr 28, 2015 in London Event Reviews by May B by May B