Twelve

‘The Angry Twelve’ is an adaptation from the ‘50’s original Rose TV production of ‘Twelve Angry Men’. This production is a further adaptation by talented Director Louisa under the title of ‘Twelve’ placed in current time and the inclusion now of women jurors. There is a Foreman and eleven very individual characters as jurors, subjected to a confined, hot room – a single set where they battle a case of justice to be upheld – debating innocence or guilt which also raises a class issue. The accused is a young male being sentenced for the fatal stabbing of his abusive father. An initial count is eleven guilty with one not guilty. This must be a unanimous verdict with the death sentence being at stake. The whole of the play seesaws with questions, debates, argument, even fighting, strong feelings, much frustration and further voting. Eventually the verdict swings to eleven not guilty and one guilty. The climax is a dramatic change of heart by the last juror and all agree the defendant be not guilty.

A good A5 well put together programme was produced containing all relevant information with interesting biogs and equally as important technical behind the scenes acknowledgements.

The remit of the set was covered – it had two doors, one from the courtroom and one leading to the washroom. Black angled flats and backdrop. A strategic non-working ceiling fan hung down front stage, with an upright electric fan at the back together with a coat stand. Two long tables and 12 chairs set. Two frames hung symbolising windows – one on back curtain the other suspended front which from my seat position sometimes hid part of an actor’s head but whilst facing front worked very well indeed. All personal props were carried in on entry to this claustrophobic room. Costumes were appropriate to age and character.

Steve Lenham, Sharon Pickles, Mark Perrian (debut with CODS), Alison Withey-Harrison, Freya Mardon – also a debut, Max Williams - another debut, Siana Weston with another comedic role, Louis Franklin, Kay Fitzgerald also a debut, Robin Harrison, Angela Woodcock with a good Eastern European accent, and Beth Fenton - an excellent cast each finding their individual characters and maintaining them throughout.  Script was huge and pace fast, and business that showed us both heat in temperature and temperament. The silence of the audience gave a measure of total absorption of the tension and the meaning of a life.

The mixed bag of characters varied from the Foreman – a football coach, A most forceful self-opinionated boss of a Courier business, a confident woman broker, an easily swayed Bank Clerk, a young woman deeply aware of her background of similar circumstance to the

defendant, baseball loving, rather loud, let’s get on with it the comedienne of the piece, the steady, determined protagonist keeping firm in her belief compassion and a unmoving verdict of not guilty, an elderly infirm lady who can get excited, a most dislikeable angry Garage owner who continually nose blows, a refugee seeking justice that believes she will find in her new life in the US, and finally a gum chewing female who is in advertising who constantly doodles and thinks in terms of data, graphs and percentages not actually real people.

A well gelled team of actors under Louisa’s direction certainly produced a most thought-provoking, first-class production.

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