REVIEW: The Verdict - The Coliseum Theatre, Oldham

This week I've been lucky enough to catch Barry Reed's, The Verdict, on it's second world tour at the wonderful Oldham Coliseum Theatre. Directed by Barry Reed for Middle Ground Theatre Company with a star-studded cast. This play was adapted into film and made famous by director Sidney Lumet in 1982, starring Paul Newman in the leading role, it was ranked in the top 100 screenplays ever written by The Writers Guild of America.

The Verdict centres around Frank Galvin, played by Ian Kelsey; a struggling, washed-up, alcoholic lawyer who takes on the medical establishment and the Catholic Church in a malpractice case that has left his client in a vegetative state. The action of the play built to a gripping court-room scene full of surprises and bursting with drama.

Ian Kelsey's performance in The Verdict was superb, I have had the pleasure of seeing him in several other productions, but this starring role really gave him the opportunities to shine. Kelsey is very powerful at conveying emotions to the audience, with a subject matter so very emotive, malpractice during child birth, Kelsey's passionate speeches hit hard and were very moving. Kelsey's ability to deliver speech to a whole audience and appear to give eye contact to each person in the auditorium is very impressive and denotes a huge stage presence.

There was a stage slap towards the beginning of the play that felt like a gear crunching, the actress delivering the blow suddenly changed her stage position to prepare for the slap, very distinctly turning her back to the audience and then hid the action of the slap. From the movements and Kelsey's reaction the slap would surely have been more effective from a different angle.

As one of the younger ones in the audience, the humour of the piece was lost on me, but the actors performed it well getting many laughs from the rest of audience throughout the play. My lack of understanding of the humour was greatly made up for by the enjoyment of the acting; with a cast of seventeen actors all of whom were star quality it was frustrating that some actors I wanted to see more of only had supporting roles.

The design elements of the play were very special, the set was impressive, walls angled at extreme angles upstage created great depth to the scenes. To begin with the stage was split between Frank's office and his local bar, throughout the play a simple backdrop being lowered from above created an entirely different space and for act two the stage transformed into a grand court room. Such stage crafting, we were treated to at least six different scenes throughout the play, with minutely detailed sets, manoeuvred by slick stage hands with impressive precision.

The music by Lynette Webster was a haunting reminder of the client deprived of her life, minor keys and a sweet melody, complemented scenes so well, and added to the already very high quality of this production.

'Middle Ground Theatre Company is one of the most prolific producers of quality drama in the UK', I concur, very talented star actors supported by other extremely talented actors, with wonderful design behind them, this was a production definitely worthy of catching.

Reviewer - Kerry Ely
on - 12/3/19