STAGE REVIEW: The Verdict - at the Festival Theatre, Malvern, from Wednesday, January 25 to Saturday, January 28, 2017.

ABSOLUTELY no need to send out the jury again. The verdict has to be absolutely unanimous that this gripping courtroom thriller provides a theatrical treat that is a near perfect and certainly powerful courtroom drama.

And what a coup for the Malvern Theatres that the Middle Ground Theatre Company chose the venue for this production’s world stage premiere.

The cast of 15, which has been hard at work rehearsing in the spa town for the past few weeks, and which has been seen and spoken to by members of the public during meal and coffee breaks at local coffee houses and restaurants, proved here that hard work really does pay littered as it is with any number of stand-out performances.

Clive Mantle, a familiar face in several television series over the past couple of decades or so, and Jack Shepherd, equally as well known for his small screen roles, go together as splendidly as strawberries and cream or bacon and eggs - tasty, if not scrumptious, performances from two of the play’s main characters.

There's a real chemistry here and both have quite a stage pedigree too.

Mantle is a washed up veteran lawyer, Frank Galvin, who is not simply verging on alcoholism - he’s begun the fall off the cliff, while Shepherd is his frail friend and legal mentor, Moe Katz.

Suddenly presented with one last chance to redeem the past failures in his career and his home-life he takes on a surgical malpractice case involving not only the medical establishment but also the all-powerful Catholic Church.

The odds are heavily stacked against him and Moe. He/they, can’t win, and what’s more no one thinks he can win! Especially when he turns down an out-of-court settlement and takes the big boys on, along with the whole legal system, in a battle of wills and the search for truth.

A truth that is going to be costly for some if allowed to be ridden roughshod over.

Barry Reed’s original work, which became a five times OSCAR nominated film in the early 1980s, is utterly captivating and loses none of its impact as a stage version thanks to Margaret May Hobbs’ adaptation and the excellent multi-function set of lawyer’s office, local bar and courtroom designed by Michael Lunney - who also multi-tasks as director and plays the part of bar owner Eugene Meehan.

Impressive performances too from Richard Walsh as the authoritarian Bishop Brophy, Cassie Bancroft, only to be expected with a name like that, who is a promotion seeking young lawyer, and Okon Jones, as the expert witness for hire Dr Lionel Thompson. Rich and mellow tones were most memorable.

There’s also Peter Harding - the defendants’ fearsome legal lead, J Edward Concannon, who was so utterly convincing, cold and calculating in court that you half expected to hear a few boos, hisses, even jeers.

Overall it’s a performance meriting praise and shows that courtrooms are not just cold, calculating and intimidating, but also contain lots of drama, along with compromise and coercion, and a touch of humour too.

Tickets are scarce and those who have already acquired can expect quite an enjoyable and entertaining night out.