Review: Twelve Angry Men at Darlington Hippodrome

Invited: Review by Stephen Stokoe on 06 October 2026

I know I get excited about a lot of theatre that comes to the region so it will come as no surprise that I was very excited to see a staged version of Reginald Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men.’ And the production visiting the Darlington Hippodrome certainly did not disappoint.

For those who do not know the story, it follows the jury into the deliberating room of a case concerning a 16-year-old boy who is accused of murdering his abusive father. The angry men in question are the jurors.

As the audience takes their seats, they see the scales of justice. It is a powerful image and sets the scene perfectly for what is to follow. We then hear the judge direct the jury in plain, unequivocal terms as to their duties. They file out to begin their deliberations which starts with a guilty verdict 11-1 vote. What follows blurs the line between doing the right thing set against the jury members individual prejudices, toxic masculinity, racial bias, social impartiality, and pig-headed bigotry.

Very cleverly, the jurors are never given names. This gives an every man feel to the piece which makes the audience look into themselves to ask – what would I do.

The direction by Christopher Haydon is first class. He ramps up the tension superbly closing the characters in on one another. At times it is extremely uncomfortable. Given that 95% of the action is in one room, there is a claustrophobic feel to the proceedings. To stage right some characters are allowed to leave the room into a restroom. The tension, however, does not ease up.

Michael Pavelka’s set design is absolutely spot on. You really feel as if you are in that room listening as the jurors justify their stance and quite often betray their true feelings. The lighting by Chris Davey is fairly static as you may expect but that does not stop him drawing some tension with slight tweaks here and there and having a little fun with an electrical storm in act two. The sound was also very good with every word of a verbose script heard clearly.

Tasked with the duty of being the dissenting voice at the start was Juror 8 (Gray O’Brien) which put him immediately at loggerheads with the confident and no nonsense Juror 3 (Bill Ward.) These two characters shadow box, cajole, and spar throughout the performance and they are both superb. Another shout out to director Haydon for picking up act two at the precise moment act one ended. Nice!

Each and every juror gave the audience believable characters and I feel honour bound to name them all. Tim Maxwell Clarke. Mark Heenehan, Micquel Pereira, Jeffrey Harmer, Ricky Norwood, Paul Beech, Tristan Gemmil, Kenneth Jay, Ben Healon, and Graham Elwell all performed superbly adding nuance, drama, and even humour to the performance.

There was a time, not so long ago, I may have said that this play may have seemed to be a slightly old fashioned and of its time. In the current climate, some of the views of the jurors make for very uncomfortable viewing. I will leave that for you to decide.

To say I came out of the theatre smiling this evening would be a stretch. I came out of it thoughtful and nodding my head to a team that nailed it. Very well done indeed. This is a well conceived, perfectly performed production with a message to remind us all about what it is to be just.

^{(Photo credits: Manuel Harlan)}