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by Reginald Rose, directed by Scott Ellis

Roundabout Theatre Company, Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto

January 10-February 10, 2008

Toronto is very lucky that Mirvish has brought us the Roundabout Theatre Company’s absolutely thrilling production of Twelve Angry Men. The Roundabout production premiered in 2004 to celebrate the play’s 50th anniversary and in response to massive critical and popular acclaim has been touring since September 2006.  It’s a tribute to all concerned that after so many performances there is not one hint of the routine about the show.  It is fresh and gripping from beginning to end.  

Reginald Rose’s classic began life as a television play in 1954 but is probably best known in the great 1957 film version by Sidney Lumet starring Henry Fonda.  Lumet’s film is a study in how to make a discussion set in only one room visually engaging.  On stage the play runs 90 minutes in real time without intermission.  That alone creates tension but Scott Ellis’s incisive direction is a masterclass in pacing and building tension in a play where all the action is verbal.  The story simply follows the deliberations of a white male jury in a case of murder where a guilty verdict means death.  Against the other eleven, only Juror Eight (Richard Thomas) believes that that there is enough “reasonable doubt” not to convict a non-white teenage delinquent of killing his father.  His attempts to convince the others that he is right make up the action. 

Though Thomas is billed as the “star” of the show, the play is truly an ensemble piece and a model of naturalistic acting.  Under Ellis, Thomas is not a crusader but simply an honest man who wants to be sure of the truth before he determines another man’s fate.  One would like to think a jury today could see through the strong-arm tactics of an unthinking blowhard like Juror Three (wonderfully played by Julian Gamble) or turn away in disgust at the offensive ramblings of a bigot like Juror Ten (an excellent Kevin Dobson).  Yet, the “reasonable doubt” that Rose celebrates as part of the American way seems all but forgotten in current political discourse.  For this reason and for its portrayal of the ways personality can cloud judgement, the play seems all the more urgent and relevant.  Ellis and the uniformly superb cast make this a compelling experience no one should miss. 

©Christopher Hoile

Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2008-01-14.

Photo: Cast members of Twelve Angry Men.