THE VERDICT

THE VERDICT
Middle Ground Theatre Company at the Civic Theatre Chelmsford
05.04.2017
for The Reviews Hub

Given the title, it's no surprise that this is a courtroom drama. A strong morality play too, which began as a novel, then became a film with Paul Newman.
Now, 35 years on, it's on stage for the first time, touring the country with Middle Ground. 
The usual issues with adaptations, of course. It needs a huge cast, many of them in supporting roles. To their credit, Middle Ground is fielding a company of fifteen, a remarkable achievement for a tour of this kind. And a string of short scenes, though here the scene changes are very smoothly done, with Lynette Webster's Irish-infused music to cover. The visit to the hospital is done very tellingly in about ten seconds, with the attorney isolated by a spotlight and life-support sound effects.
This is a medical negligence case, and the background leading up to the trial is done in Act One, with varying success dramatically. David Mamet did the screenplay for Sidney Lumet, and we can only dream of what he might have done in the theatre.
Nuala Walsh brings in an emotional perspective as the victim's mother; Richard Walsh as the Bishop represents the difficult position of the Catholic Church. The awkward job of filling in the prosecution attorney's back-story is brilliantly done by director Michael Lunney as the barman, the narrative punctuated by the clink and clatter of the bar being shut down for the night. Lunney also plays Crowley, the leading anaesthetist at the heart of the “act of God” which leaves a young mother a permanent vegetable in “chronic care”.
A strong moment, too, when the accomplished defence counsel (Peter Harding) coaches his witness in a dry run of the trial.
Despite a fine performance – in her professional debut – by Cassie Bancroft, the role of Donna, the “waitress” who befriends the prosecution counsel in his favourite bar, seems less convincing, though it does provide one of several plot twists in the second act.
Almost entirely set in the court-room (though even here, a cafe table has to be brought on for a key scene), this is the stronger half dramatically. Any court is inherently dramatic, especially in the American system – the play is set in Boston in 1980.
Two opposing lawyers – one smoothly successful, the other seeking to make a come-back in “the biggest case of (his) career” -  fight it out in the convincingly solid stage set. 
Frank Galvin, the washed-up, booze-sodden ambulance chaser who takes on the hospital and the Church, is brilliantly done by Clive Mantle; we see him first, in a prologue before the lights go down, stumbling into his office, sobering up before the day's work begins. Then in the courtroom, he assumes his old professionalism and charisma in a three-piece suit. The other “name” in this company is Jack Shepherd, excellent as Frank's mentor and “guardian angel” Moe Katz. Their scenes together crackle with energy and emotional impact, a very different kind of drama from the set-pieces in the trial. 

THE VIRGIN IN THE ICE

THE VIRGIN IN THE ICE

Middle Ground at the Mercury Theatre Colchester

02.05.13

Fans of Ellis Peters' Cadfael, and there are many, will often tell you that the strength of the novels is in the historical background and the narrative style, rather than the plots or the characters.

Two elements difficult to bring to the stage. Middle Ground's ambitious, and expensive, dramatisation, adapted, directed and designed by Michael Lunney, celebrates a quarter of a century of touring, but I don't think it will go down as one of their signal successes.

The magic of theatre is not best served by resorting to the projector for images and filmed inserts; it can easily look like an admission of failure.

We have a huge cast and multiple settings, trees on wheels crossing the stage like Birnam Wood. There are some striking images, the snowy abbey cloister background, or the body on the tomb, but the crucial showdown atop the tower needed more than a few flames on film. Sometimes the staging was strangely static: the final confrontation and confession was delivered by three actors standing in a line. The medieval music was well used, the soundscape often effective.

Of the performances, of varying quality and style, I found Hannah Burton's Ermina too modern, Paul Hassall's Beringar too callow. But there was good work from Daniel Murray as one of the "creatures absolutely innocent". And Gareth Thomas, mellifluous and grave, did what he could with Cadfael, who came across in this version as more interesting than those involved in the mystery proper.

ON GOLDEN POND

ON GOLDEN POND

Middle Ground at the Mercury Theatre Colchester

17.01.2012

for The Public Reviews

It's thirty years or more since we first saw the Thayer's New England lodge by the lake.

Ernest Thompson's play [predating the famous Fonda film] has aged well, adding a patina of period charm to its gentle, sentimental exploration of a marriage in its twilight years.

Norman and Ethel [she's "old", he's "ancient"] take the dust wraps off the furniture for the 48^th time, with the whole summer ahead of them, remembering the neighbours, listening to the loons, with only death or dementia to look forward to. That is until their daughter Chelsea finds her dentist, with his teenage son in tow …

This brand new production, directed and designed by Michael Lunney for Middle Ground, catches the style and the mood very well, helped by some lovely haunting music for piano, oboe and violin [specially written by Lynette Webster and Tessa Frith] and by the Maine summer home itself, open plan, wooden, with a nice lived-in look to it. Not so sure about the backcloth with those cliché scudding clouds – a more impressionistic view of the lake might have been more effective.

The two household names playing Darby and Joan here both give touchingly believable performances. Richard Johnson plays the chronically cantankerous, slightly confused, tough old buzzard Norman to perfection, with Stephanie Powers as his long-suffering Ethel. Placid, loving, with the inner strength she needs to cope. Their final scene, where they confront mortality and close up the house for another winter, is memorably moving.

And there is strong support from a terrific cast. Elizabeth Carling is the grown-up daughter, haunted by a miserable childhood. Her new man [Tom Roberts] has a wonderful scene with Johnson, the older man determined to wrong-foot his guest. And there's a lovely character cameo from Kasper Michaels as the mailman with the ludicrous laugh, Chelsea's childhood sweetheart. The young boy, who gives Norman a new lease of life while widening his vocabulary, is convincingly done by Graeme Dalling, who played Huck at the Mercury in 2010.

It's not Chekhov; its dialogue and characters have more than a hint of the sitcom. But it is a very enjoyable piece of theatre, well served in this fine revival. The first night audience in Colchester gave it a very warm reception, which augurs well for its three-month national tour.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews