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Theatre: Twelve Angry Men

INDIANNA PURCELL finds the stage production of Reginald Rose's acclaimed drama far from disappointing - if unoriginal

Twelve Angry Men

Garrick Theatre, London WC2H

4 Stars

For those of you who have seen - and I'm presuming there are many of you - the classic Reginald Rose 1952 film 12 Angry Men, there is very little to surprise you in this latest stage adaptation.

But for the benefit of those of you who haven't seen it, this courtroom drama set in 1950s New York revolves around 12 jurors faced with the difficult task of deciding the fate of a young man accused of murdering his father. The odds are stacked up against him - an unconvincing alibi, he was seen with a similar weapon hours before the crime, as well as witnesses coming forward left, right and centre and, to top it off, at least half of the jury hate him because he's a) not white or b) working class - ultimately exposing society's prejudice and ignorance.

Although I did make a conscious effort to watch the play without comparing it with the film it was almost impossible which was largely because there is, unsurprisingly, absolutely no attempt to modernise or update it.

The story works perfectly as a play, which no doubt was largely down to designer Michael Pavelka's intense and claustrophobic set.

If you can forgive the terrible, over-the -top New York accents - at one point I did think one juror was actually Scottish - the cast are pretty much spot on. Even protagonist Martin Shaw, or Judge John Deed to most of us, is almost perfect as the saintly but stubborn juror 8, who is at first the only juror to doubt the young man's guilt.

But Robert Vaughn's juror is magnificent and perhaps the highlight of the piece.

The play's only, but significant, downfall is the fact that it remains so loyal to the original film.

So much so that I would say to anyone who's keen on seeing it that, instead of paying the - at least - £50 ticket and £8.50 for a glass of not-so-great wine, rent out the DVD instead.

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