The Verdict was Unanimous
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Author: Frederick Canon
Released 20 July 2003
The DTG found guilty of producing a fine courtroom drama with The Accused
Jury Bailiff (Johan Muller)
Photo by George Allison
The Dhahran Theatre Group latest production, Jeffery Archer’s The Accused, July 14 – 17, had an element of participatory theater. The Jury Bailiff (Johan Muller) welcomed the audiences in this courtroom drama as the juries who had been “summoned here to the Central Criminal Court, and assigned to the case of the Crown v Sherwood.” Thus their charge was not merely to sit back and relax, but to listen to and weigh the evidence, and say whether Dr. Patrick Sherwood be guilty of murder, or no – and they all respectfully came to their feet every time the stern Judge, Lady Justice Cartwright (Linda Esposito) took the bench.
Judge Cartwright and QC Kersey
The jury heard from the prosecution, led by QC Katherine Kersey (Linda Pilon) with the assistance of Miss Ashton (Jan Biggs). Their theory of the case was that the accused, the prominent cardiologist Dr. Patrick Sherwood (David Crookes), enlisted his mistress, nurse Jennifer Mitchell (Pat Perkerson), to help him poison his frail wife, making it appear to be a heart attack. Testimony from a police inspector, a chemist, a toxicology expert, and the caretaker of the Sherwoods’ apartment building offered considerable incriminating circumstantial evidence. However, nothing conclusively proved Dr. Sherwood’s guilt, particularly as defense counsel (Liam Smith and Noël Cave) managed to peck away at these witnesses’ stories in their cross examinations.
The tension rose when star witness Jennifer Mitchell took the stand, and gave an emotional account of how – according to her - she had been wooed and then dumped by Sherwood, and came to realize that she had been used in his vile plot. It seemed the defense counsel’s withering attack on her credibility was sure to convince the jury she was a vindictive woman who had made the entire story up because Sherwood had rejected her advances. Then she stopped defense counsel cold with the most dramatic outburst of the play.
That left the defense no option but to call Dr. Sherwood himself to tell a tale the exact opposite of that of Ms. Mitchell, denying there had even been a relationship between them. His testimony ended with the defense springing its own surprise on the court. The Judge then delivered her summing-up, noting that either Sherwood or Mitchell had to be a brazen liar, and the case went to the jury. Three of the four jury-audiences returned not-guilty verdicts, by widely varying margins. But no matter how the vote went, the cast was prepared with an appropriate surprise ending which will not be given away here.
QC Barrington (Liam Smith) Starts His Cross Examination
by George Allison
While there was no clear consensus on Dr. Sherwood’s guilt, the audiences did all seem to agree that director Keith Kynoch and his cast and crew had delivered an enjoyable evening of dramatic entertainment. Of particular note was the fine work done by the players in the demanding parts of chief counsels. Liam Smith as Mr. James Barrington for the defense made a worthy Dhahran debut (after several appearances with the Abqaiq players). His apparent passion to avoid the conviction of an innocent man may well have influenced the juries as much as the evidence. Linda Pilon as Crown Counsel for her part left no doubt that she was an uncompromising guardian of society and public justice. David Crookes had the right tone of flawed respectability that made judging his character’s guilt or innocence all the more difficult. Pat Perkerson gave a nuanced portrayal of Miss Mitchell’s ambiguous agenda. Janet Gibson captured the character of the landlady who added comic relief without ever compromising the dramatic tenor of the plot. George Allison as the police inspector, Bandar Al-Otaibi as the chemist, and Debbie La Rue as the toxicologist made the audience sit up and take notice of a wealth of evidence. The Accused also featured Tirina Amabeoku and Diane Zambrano as the Court Usher and Reporter.
George Allison designed the set with Scott McNeill leading the construction team. The rest of the crew included Helen Doherty as Stage and Business Manager, Lesley Allison and Danielle Mantyh on props, Lynne Stephens coordinating costumes, and Brad Kille and Trey Renaud on lighting and sound.