GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY

Cambridge Guildhall

★★★★★

“arresting, unsettling and grounded, hooking the audience from start to finish”

‘Gentlemen of the Jury’, written by Aisling Towl, is an immersive, dystopian theatrical experience not to be missed. Performed in the Guildhall’s old courtrooms, you step into a new world – and the longer you stay, the deeper you go.

You bear witness to four women during an appeals hearing, as each tries to convince the jury they deserve pardon over the others with varying degrees of apprehension, fear, desperation and resignation – and sometimes unbridled emotion. Throughout their ordeal, an Officer presides. He probes and questions, directs and redirects. Enforces the rules yet bends them for himself. Once the cases are heard, the jury makes a decision. But have they made the right one?

This powerful production from AKRO Theatre is directed by Olivia Krauze and produced by Aubin Ramon. Towl’s script is tight and compelling, weaving a cunning web of what is and isn’t said. The cases are never fully heard. The characters are never fully revealed. There isn’t a ‘plot’ as such. But it is arresting, unsettling and grounded, hooking the audience from start to finish, and forcing our own biases and judgments to fill the gaps whether we want them to or not.

Krauze’s direction handles some heavy topics sensitively yet critically and feels fresh. She allows tension to simmer and build, then briefly lets rip when it can no longer be contained before snapping abruptly back into place as the questioning continues. Capturing these outbursts through movement, light and sound, a self-proclaimed AKRO Theatre speciality, adds a layer of rawness and intrusiveness, especially as they are the only moments the women are united. The minimal, perhaps exposed, set and costume design pays off through situating this within an actual courtroom where everyone is under scrutiny.

The cast does a stellar job. Katie Gathercole plays a young, outwardly sweet Eve, full of age-appropriate uncertainty and naivety, but adding shade through a hint of entitlement. Jenny Scudamore as Mary gives a fantastic portrayal of a mother holding her life together by her fingernails while suppressing her resentment of the lot she has been given. Dounia El Barhdadi is a defiant yet broken Adah, seeking escape from a situation she is unable to confront. And Harriet Haylock plays a deliciously complex Mimi, offering up both her most and least vulnerable sides to judgment. All four shimmer with pithy realism and grounded humanity. There is striking contrast in the Officer, played by Nicolas Rayment, who is flippant, condescending, casual, insincere. If anything, Rayment could lean even further into his odiousness at points. But perhaps that’s the point – his detachment heightens his sinisterness.

There is a post-show a Q+A with the cast and creatives. I would highly recommend going for several reasons: it offers a safe space to decompress; it allows the full weight of events sink in; it shifts your perspective, making some aspects all the more devastating in retrospect; and thus shines a light on the uncomfortable truths behind our actions in the theatre space. And, though difficult to admit, extends the play by demonstrating that perhaps life mimics art after all.

This is truly immersive theatre, thoughtfully crafted and impactfully delivered. It deals with heavy topics with care and authenticity. It is searching and challenging but a unique and unforgettable experience.

Don’t miss this real-time social experiment. Though you may leave feeling unsettled by what you find.

Tag Archives: Aisling Towl

GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY

★★★★★

Cambridge Guildhall

GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY

Cambridge Guildhall

★★★★★

“arresting, unsettling and grounded, hooking the audience from start to finish”