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Amateur Theatre Reviews |
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Twelve Angry MenCriterion Theatre, CoventryBlack Tarmac. An old skip in the corner. Scaffolding is draped across it crudely. No, this is not some futuristic set, but the sight that greets you as you turn into the car park of this LTG theatre. I shudder as the excitement which I have built up for some weeks subsides sinks in my stomach... I do not want to give background on the plot, as there are many websites on which that information can be found. Twelve Angry Men is one of my favourite ever films. It's a wonderful piece, robbed of the best picture Oscar in 1957 by Gigi, of all things... It is not performed very often by amateur companies, and it is clear to see why: How many of our amateur theatres can conjour up the required cast of 13 men in one place at the same time? The setting is problematic, the entire cast must all perform on stage for the duration of the show: my advice would be to rent the video. But perhaps I was wrong... I was fully expecting to have my worst fears confirmed walking into the dimly lit auditorium: Scarred walls, basic facilites, the most uncomfortable of seating. I sat shuffling in my seat waiting to say to myself "I told you so." Suddenly, the lights snapped off (not a fade to blackout here, a plunge into darkness), and a banging gavel put me on the edge of my seat, where I was to remain for the following two hours. We sat in darkness as a judges voice boomed his instructions to the jury, a harsh shaft of light burst through the jury-room door, and 12 jurors entered into the centre of the auditorium. With seating all around, the table which the jurors sat around was, in effect, inside a pit onto which the audience watched. The effect was stupifying. Never, in all my years of going to amateur theatre, have I seen an audience so still, so enthralled: no rustling of sweet packets, no coughing, no fidgeting. The silences were deafening. The cast were strong, the accents (so difficult to hold for 2 hours at all times) were only slightly flawed in places (just certain words caught them out), but the audience forgave them willingly. Presented in period (1957) the jurors were varied in dress: a spiv, a prissy advertising executive, sharp businessman. They tugged at their shirts with the heat (which after a while even the audience could feel on a wet May evening!) and debated the facts of the case keeping the humour and moral ethics intended by the author coming through strongly. It is hard to keep this kind of topic interesting, but the cast performed it as if they were saying the words for the very first time (in the very best sense of the phrase!) The direction was superb. Playing in the round is such a difficult skill, yet I never felt like I was missing anything. The positioning was done with military precision, playing to a horseshoe shaped audience birlliantly. Speaking with some of their regulars in the bar afterwards (including a beaming Artistic Director whose name has since eluded me!), they told me of plans to upgrade the theatre, of lottery grants and arts funding. They seemed disheartened (apparantly a meeting with the West Midlands Arts people had not ended positively some nights beforehand), but I wish them all the best. If they continue to produce theatre of this quality, then it will not be long before someone in charge of funding somewhere will help them out. Anthony Smyth
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