SUMMARY
This is a very rarely staged play which the club produced to a high standard. The actors were well cast, convincing and consistent in conveying the moral dilemmas inherent in trying to understand the value of various pieces of evidence. Imaginative use was made of the available space and the technical aspects of the staging all contributed to the entertainment of the production. Congratulations to the Club and the Director.

REPORT
This is a very rarely staged cleverly written play that became the famous film of the same name. The plot deals with the difficulty in valuing evidence in a murder trial compounded by the prejudices of the various members of the jury. One member of the jury stands alone in not being convinced ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ of the accused's guilt and eventually converts the other members of the jury to that point of view. The major challenges of the play are to maintain the pace and credibility of the actors, who are on stage for the whole of the play. It is also difficult to convey the humour of the play without over doing it.

The play was set in the present with some small changes to the dialogue.

The story was carefully revealed during the dialogues between the jurors as juror no 8, Paula Fitzgerald who delivered this demanding role with assurance, quietly questioned the strongly held beliefs of the other jurors.

It was clear that particular attention had been paid to the casting of the play, each character looked the part and was convincing in engaging with the audience. Some of the jurors had more demanding roles such as Paul Johnson, as the highly emotional juror no 3; Steve Kietzmann who’s main concern was his base ball tickets; Benjamin Ellis with his intellectual superiority and Sara Stickland with her blind prejudice. All the jurors performed to a high standard delivering each character with conviction and consistency including their accents, full marks to all of them. Orna Joseph was the softball coach forced to be the foreman; Frances Holmes was the quite and thoughtful character; Luke O'Reilly was the juror who really had experienced life on the street; Geoff Hall was the dependable working class painter and decorator; Ada Halley was the older but still observant and independent juror; Julia Coleman was an unflappable Scandinavian who was wedded to the theory of democratic responsibility; Susan Jones was the capricious ad agency gal willing to run any idea up a flag pole. The role of Guard requires a determined dependability with attention to detail and was finely played by David Russell.

The technical aspects of the show were all of a high standard.

The set and props were very simple and yet effective with good attention to detail, I particularly liked the saluting of the photo of George Bush.

The acting space was used well and extended by the use of the rear doors and the door to the rest room in the auditorium on stage left.

The costumes were carefully chosen so that they supported the contemporary setting.

The lighting design and execution added to the play. The sound canvas was particularly well thought out and effective. I liked the use of Copland’s ‘fanfare for the common man’.

Congratulations to the Director Ian Pring who succeeded in delivering an entertaining and engaging piece of drama and to Sharron Stubbs who’s production efforts also paid off.

The Front of House team were most welcoming and efficient as was the catering team.

The play was ideally suited to the reorientation of the acting space and the use of raked seating.

Yet again the company were able to produce a very striking image for their advertising that was carried through from the advertising material to the programme. I found the programme helpful but I still think that you could have had a bit more in the programme, perhaps a little bit about the club, a welcoming note from the chairman, a synopsis of the play? As I wrote in my last review ‘it all adds to the audience’s enjoyment of the show and it means that you can justify charging a little more for the programme’

This was a show that really worked due to the hard work of the whole company and the director. I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening thank you.