For 12 Sin Piedad, ‘it's an open-and-shut case’

By Andrew Dark

A warm and lively audience gathered at Ince’s Hall last Sunday to watch a co-production by our very own local ‘Theatre Makers’ and ‘Teatro Mijas’ from Spain of a Spanish adaptation of Reginald Rose’s tense courtroom drama ‘12 Angry Men’ (12 Sin Piedad).

This powerful play finds new life under esteemed director Manuel España’s competent hands, who smartly brings women to perform some of the roles and balance out the story, which was written in the 1950s, a time when only men were allowed to sit on a jury.

The plot has a stark simplicity with 12 everyday citizens coming together in a New York jury room on the hottest day of the year to decide whether or not a young man should be sentenced to death for the murder of his father.

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This challenging piece of drama requires much from its cast and this talented troupe of seasoned actors took to the stage and played their ‘A’ game.

Heartfelt performances from all the ensemble brought nuanced and emotional personalities to the mix, setting the scene for all the passion and pain to come, as what appears to be an open-and-shut case turns into a white-hot debate full of dueling personalities and prejudices that finishes in a nail-biting climax.

The production was well done, with costumes fitting the types of outfits that would be worn by jurors. Warm golden lighting gave us a feel of summer heat with added depth brought by occasional underscoring with music.

The set was sparse with an American flag on a pole to give us a sense of location. Then, across the stage, was the large jurors' table they sat around. A couple of smaller pieces on either side of the stage allowed them somewhere to hang coats, bags etc. and have a small table for water.

For me, the result of Theatre Makers' first foray into bringing theatrical works from outside to Gibraltar was a success.

It was a pleasure to see Spanish-speaking actors performing and the audience agreed with hearty applause at the curtain call.

Jackie Villa, main orchestrator of the evening, told me she had been helping an older member of the audience into the theatre when the lady informed her that this was the first time in twenty years she’d been to Ince’s hall because ‘they don’t have any plays in Spanish anymore’.

The event was underwritten by the Ministry of Culture and attended by Minister Dr John Cortes.

I look forward to seeing more productions of this type.