And I wasn't disappointed. This musical was written by Ashley MA Walsh (music and lyrics) and Amy Fletcher (book) and directed by Joseph Meighan and tells the story of the members of a jury called to a murder trial. It follows their lives and thought processes and events as the trial goes on and by the end all their lives have been changed forever.
The case is about Jason Schofield who has been charged with the murder of his wife Emily - but he is claiming self-defence. It's up to our jury members to listen to the evidence and come to a majority verdict - guilty or not guilty?
The cast all seemed to understand their characters well and were very believable. I really can't choose a favourite as the jury members were all such different people with different tales to tell - but they worked together so well as an ensemble.
The cast all seemed to understand their characters well and were very believable. I really can't choose a favourite as the jury members were all such different people with different tales to tell - but they worked together so well as an ensemble.
The music (all played magnificently on piano by composer Walsh visible to the audience at the back of the stage) was beautiful. There were no big showstoppers to speak of - but a wonderful musical narrative (with some to-die-for-harmonies) intertwined with a mixture of memorable songs - "Let's Play A Game" by Debbie the am dram fan (a wonderful Bethany Grace) was extremely funny at the outset, as she got other jurors to try and role play the crime - but ended in one of the characters (Darren the work-obsessed CEO played brilliantly by Ben Cupit). questioning their own actions and unexpected responses to the situation ("That Wasn't Me").
As the trial continued and the jurors got to know each other, the audience too got to learn about their lives. A song by the quietly religious "Hannah from Marketing" (Laura Meaton) about the loss of her child reduced me to tears. The young and chavvy Jodie (Alexandra Wood) eventually befriended the retired Alma (Elizabeth Brooks) (and introduced her to the phrase WTF...!) Family man and builder Andy (Jake Hankey) found a new career through his friendship with Carol (Janice Fryett) the building surveyor, who had finally found one man in the world that she could rely on. Tim Sanderson played Simon the university lecturer who kept a firm hold on proceedings and you knew that he really wanted to be the foreperson all along. Harry Turner was played so well by John Thacker - he did a fabulous job as the youngest juror with a secret past. Charlie Culkin played Laura, the stay at home mum who almost jeopardises the trial, and another juror that almost does that is Tom the Media Graduate played brilliantly by Josh Hankey - it's fair to say these jurors broke a few rules but it provided us, the audience, with a fantastic story to follow and become caught up in.
As the trial continued and the jurors got to know each other, the audience too got to learn about their lives. A song by the quietly religious "Hannah from Marketing" (Laura Meaton) about the loss of her child reduced me to tears. The young and chavvy Jodie (Alexandra Wood) eventually befriended the retired Alma (Elizabeth Brooks) (and introduced her to the phrase WTF...!) Family man and builder Andy (Jake Hankey) found a new career through his friendship with Carol (Janice Fryett) the building surveyor, who had finally found one man in the world that she could rely on. Tim Sanderson played Simon the university lecturer who kept a firm hold on proceedings and you knew that he really wanted to be the foreperson all along. Harry Turner was played so well by John Thacker - he did a fabulous job as the youngest juror with a secret past. Charlie Culkin played Laura, the stay at home mum who almost jeopardises the trial, and another juror that almost does that is Tom the Media Graduate played brilliantly by Josh Hankey - it's fair to say these jurors broke a few rules but it provided us, the audience, with a fantastic story to follow and become caught up in.
The musical tackled difficult issues and was incredibly thought provoking. Issues that haven't really been dealt with before in theatre, such as female and male domestic violence, child loss, gender identity, the care system....these were difficult subject matters but important ones nonetheless. The musical highlighted the importance of talking....
I really liked all the modern references - references to blogging (of course!) and Snapchat and so on...
I really liked all the modern references - references to blogging (of course!) and Snapchat and so on...
But the best thing for me about this musical is that the audience were taken on the journey WITH the members of the jury - by the end of the show we were all just desperate to know what the verdict would be, we had invested ourselves thoroughly into the story and all had our own views on whether our accused had done the crime or not....
.....and we were left with the biggest cliffhanger ever...!
But it got people talking. In the theatre foyer the discussion was all about "guilty or not guilty" - whose side were you on?
And we were all left with the message that "we must talk" - which can only be a good thing.
I think that The Jury is a fantastic concept, which was well directed, gripping, thought provoking and gritty ...and a musical which deserves to be seen and heard.
www.facebook.com/TheJuryUK
www.twitter.com/TheJuryUK
www.thebrindley.org.uk
I think that The Jury is a fantastic concept, which was well directed, gripping, thought provoking and gritty ...and a musical which deserves to be seen and heard.
www.facebook.com/TheJuryUK
www.twitter.com/TheJuryUK
www.thebrindley.org.uk
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