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Last Night (13/3/24) I had the pleasure of being invited to attend the touring production of “Twelve Angry Men” at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.
Twelve Angry Men, the stage play, is based on the 1957 film of the same name. It is a legal drama written by Reginald Rose. The story follows a jury of 12 men, going through the case and deciding their final verdict, without spoiling the story, they have multiple arguments throughout their time in the Jury room, and even at one point encounter a 50/50 split.
This play is tense, exciting and exhilarating. As you can expect, with a legal drama there are many moments where the tension could be cut by a knife! The atmosphere was held brilliantly by all 12 men, the acting in this play was absolutely stellar and I couldn’t pick a fault with that aspect at all.
The set was beautifully designed for this production, and when the curtain had risen, I took in the sight of this wonderfully crafted set - the perfect playground for our Jury to reach their verdict, complete with running water from the taps and rain on the windows. Design aspects by Michael Pavelka really do give the show the finishing touches it needs, along with great lighting states by Chris Davey.
Standout performances from much of the cast, no single performer felt any weaker than another.
I particularly enjoyed a number of performances.
Jason Merrells plays a calm, collected ‘Juror 8’ - playing almost “the voice of reason” a character which has the most persuading to do, and yet does it in a fantastic way.
Gray O’Brien gets plenty of laughs as ‘Juror 10’ and his more tense moments were great too. A marvellously crafted character.
Finally, Tristan Gemmill as ‘Juror 3’. I think that Gemmill characterises his juror in an extremely effective way. His stubborn, angry character comes across really well and he was a great holder of tension throughout many moments in the play.
Each and every single performer in this show displays a magnificent talent and It is an excellent production of the story, based on the classic film.
‘Twelve Angry Men’ is a great night out both for fans of the original 1957 film, or those looking for a gritty play to really sink their teeth into. Either way, it was really an enjoyable piece and I recommend it massively!
‘Twelve Angry Men’ runs in Guildford until Saturday (16th) before continuing out on its tour. Tickets for Guildford can be found here: https://www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk/whats-on/twelve-angry-men
For the remainder of the tour: https://www.kenwright.com/portfolio/twelve-angry-men-2024-uk-and-ireland-tour/
14th March 2024
Robbie Davies | Robbie’s Backstage Bants
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