Reviewed by James Karas
One benchmark for the quality of
a play or of a production is how much you can enjoy the second or third time
you read or see the work. This is even more critical when you know the play
well and whose dramatic effect depends to a significant extent on not knowing
how it will end.
Anyone who has seen the film
version or a stage production of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men will
recall that it is about twelve jurors who must decide the guilt or innocence of
a young black boy who stabbed his father. Eleven of them, gathered in a
sweltering jury room in New York, have no doubt about the guilt of the accused
and are quite prepared to send him to the electric chair. One juror has some
questions that he wants clarified.
The result is an explosive drama
that comes down to a dramatic resolution in the last minutes of the play. If
you do not know the jury’s final decision, you are in for a treat. If you do know
it, you will still experience a searing drama as if you had never seen the play
before. That is the effect of the current production at the Garrick Theatre in
London.
Twelve Angry Men started as a TV script but was re-written for the
stage in 1955 and, in addition to the superb drama, it gives a snapshot of
American society of that era. Some people may say that very little has changed.
Juror 8, played by Marty Shaw, (the
characters have no names – just numbers and it can be annoying) is a
gruff-looking but soft-spoken architect who has some questions about the guilt
or innocence of the accused. He does not express doubts nor is he prepared to
vote “not guilty” before he gets some answers. Shaw holds a steady hand on the
wheel through some very stormy waters and his performance stands out for its
boldness, sagacity and intelligence.
The opposite of Juror 8 is Juror 3
(Jeff Fahey) who is irascible, passionate and a threatening bully who may
explode into violence. He gives us a key to his emotional outbursts and unshakeable
convictions at the beginning of the play but we probably miss it. Fahey as the
juror, standing tall and indomitable will stop at nothing to get a conviction.
The knife that the murderer stuck in the victim’s chest is felt by Number 3 as
if it were driven in his own heart. I will not spoil it for those who do not
know the story but Fahey’s performance is one of the most powerful and
emotionally charged that I have seen in a long time.
There are jurors who make their
points quietly, others who are flashy and shallow but as a group most of them
show a real concern for justice. The one who brings some unintended clarity and
provides an emotional peak (one of several) is Juror 10 (Miles Richardson).
When he becomes exhausted and emotionally drained from the lengthy arguments, he
bursts out with his diseased and disgusting bigotry. Blacks are taking over his
racist America and they do not deserve any consideration. This is racist
America fully exposed and extent and depth of this juror’s evil awakens some of
the others whose judgment was at least subconsciously clouded by the colour of
the accused’s skin. A superb performance by Richardson.
Robert Vaughn, old, gray-haired
and wearing a bowtie appears a Juror 9. He says relatively little but represents
the type of patience and rational thinking that jury panels require.
The jurors represent a cross-section
of white American society. The salesman (Nick Moran), the blue-collar worker
(Robert Blythe), the advertising executive (Owen O’Neill), the foreign-accented
immigrant and watch-maker from Europe (Martin Turner), the hospital worker who
grew up in the slums and knows something about switchblades (Ed Franklin), the
stock broker (Paul Anthony-Barber), the successful businessman (Jeff Fahey),
the shy and indecisive clerk (David Calvitto), the football coach (Luke Shaw).
Even if you have seen the play
before, this production, masterfully directed by Christopher Haydon and acted
by a first-rate cast, will stimulate, infuriate and confuse you. And that is
what theatre is supposed to do, isn’t it.
_______
Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose opened on November 11,
2013 and continues at
The Garrick
Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, London WC2.
Tel: 0844 579 1974
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