TWELVE ANGRY MEN

Playwright: Reginald Rose

Synopsis: In the play, Twelve Angry Men/Jurors, a jury must decide whether or not to reach a guilty verdict and sentence the 19 year old defendant to death. At the beginning of the play, eleven jurors vote “guilty.” Only one man, Juror #8, believes that the young man might be innocent. He must convince the others that “reasonable doubt” exists.

Review: Writer Reginald Rose has written a play full of characters with such tremendous individual mind sets and personalities making ‘Twelve Angry Men’ not only an enjoyable exploration of character but an immersive, intimate showcase of human personalities whom are under huge amounts of expectations and pressure. I have not yet to be on a jury, but the thought of it has a heavy weight of responsibility which Rose has successfully executed and brought to the spotlight in this powerful piece of writing.

Director Tanya Grelis brought both experience and respect to this work. Grelis has clear influences that shine through in a cinematic matter that married the play back to its original cinematic roots. The score by sound designer George Cartledge beautifully rounding that style in full
Circle. Grelis wisely staged this production crossing all its T’s and dotting all its I’s. No un-necessary frills or contemporary tricks to somehow put a twist on an established work such as this. Instead she clearly spent her time exploring the text and insuring each actor was in touch with his characters realities and states of being. This is a very mature approach which was ultimately successful with casting choices that were on point. There was an emotional geology Grelis and her cast managed to tap into and discover in rehearsals which resulted in a rainbow of heart-bursting performances on stage.

Stand-outs for me were Enrico Babic who plays juror 3, his approach and delivery was passionate and gripping, his connection to his character felt personal. Babic embraced his character and held nothing back, he had the audience in the palm of his hands.

Luke Reeves, plays juror 7, a smart-alec with a selfish egotistical complex that makes you just want to slap him. Reeves gave his character such interesting movement and rhythm, delivering his lines with impeccable ease with a top-notch New York accent to go with it. Reeves natural style and stage presence was undeniable. A natural performer you wished to see again. One to watch.

Richard Drysdale plays juror 8, the sympathetic ,only initial ‘not guilty’ vote. Drysdale was perfectly cast for this role, his wholesome appearance and mannerisms were a flagship of hope that there are people out there who stand up for injustice, who question and don’t just go with the crowd. Drysdale gave a solid, grounded and at times gentle performance that gave a silkiness to the momentum of the play.

The rest of the cast Jon Goodsell, Phil Lye, Brett Joachim, Scott Clare, Ben Scales, Tim Hunter, Tony Bates, Darrell Hoffman, Alex Cubis and James Graham brought dynamics to the table that were commendable, strong and overall wonderful and enjoyable performances. Bar a few moments of topsey-turvey accents from a few. The notion and naturalistic state and circumstance was believable from each and every performer whom had very successfully found the key to their characters souls. This resulted in an audience who in return, were at attention like a silent member of the jury soaking up every word.

In conclusion Epicentre Theatre Company have delivered a true to text production that is worth seeing with performances from a very gifted cast.

On at the Zenith Theatre in Chatswood until the 8th of November.