Twelve Angry Men (And A Chat With Patrick Duffy)
Twelve Angry Men opened at Theatre Royal Windsor on Wednesday evening, and closed two and a half hours later to a rousing standing ovation.
Intense, insightful, and with a surprising amount of laughs considering the content, Twelve Angry Men could be the best play you will see all year. Outstanding acting with a witty script bringing the topics of empathy, justice, classism and prejudice together, this production is a triumph from start to finish.
Knife-edge drama
The story is best remembered as a three-time Academy Award nominated film starring Henry Fonda.
This adaptation started its current run at Windsor’s historic Royal Theatre – which is fast-gaining a reputation for launching hugely successful productions – and sees Patrick Duffy takes on Fonda’s role as the juror who stands up for justice.
Twelve Angry Men has recently completed two West End seasons at London’s Garrick Theatre and two national tours. Considered one of the great ‘must-sees’ of all time, this gripping knife-edge courtroom thriller follows a jury tasked with deciding the fate of a 16-year-old slum boy accused of killing his father.
What appears to be an open and shut case swiftly declines into moral dilemmas, as prejudices and
preconceived ideas about the accused, the trial, and each other turn the tables every which way,
until the nail-biting climax.
The set is simple but impressive. The cast is stellar, and a hat-tip to soap star hunks of the 90s and noughties. Each character is considered and well acted, and while most start out as contemptable, each portrayal evokes an understanding from the audience, if not complete sympathy.
Patrick Duffy is Juror Eight
Patrick Duffy has captivated TV audiences for more than 45 years, from playing Bobby Ewing in Dallas to Mark Harris in The Man from Atlantis, and more recently in several West End shows. He told Belle About Town: “It’s so interesting to talk about my character because the characters actually have no names, my character is only known as ‘Juror Eight’. The hardest part for me as an actor, when I’m thinking about how to approach my character from the script, is that even before I arrived on the set for rehearsals I was wondering who the hell I was about to be playing. I had no concept about who any of the characters were, including my own.”
This is the same for the audience and the play is written so that gradually, you find out who the characters are, and what may guide their moral compass.
Patrick said: “What we know is that Juror Eight is an architect, and he has two children. As an actor, you then have to build your character based on that background, but the great thing about this play is that it leaves the space for you develop your role yourself, so there is room to make the character your own too, which is the absolute lifeblood of acting.”
- See Twelve Angry Men at Theatre Royal Windsor until 28th October before it heads off on a nationwide tour of UK theatres.
- Picture credits Jack Merriman
