I got the chance to see 12 Angry Jurors at Th’YARC on opening night Thursday, here are my thoughts.
The play is a stage adaptation of the film “12 Angry Men,” released in 1957 which in itself is an adaptation of the Teleplay on Studio One released in 1954.
The play follows 12 jurors on a hot summers day, deliberating over a murder trial. The stakes are high as a guilty verdict destines the 16 year old defendant for the electric chair, but an innocent verdict could also mean a potential killer runs free… in order for a verdict to be given all 12 must unanimously vote either guilty or innocent. One Juror isn’t entirely convinced of a guilty verdict, unable to reach his own conclusion that is beyond a reasonable doubt. Then slowly bit by bit more details are revealed and examined, and the vote starts to sway in favour of an innocent verdict.
I absolutely loved the play, it tackles certain themes that were relevant in the 50’s and are still relevant today. By the end of the play I was relating to a character that didn’t exist, or at least that you intentionally never see during the play.
Throughout the entire play the entire cast with exception to the security guard are on set for the full duration, only leaving for a characters washroom break that might last a few minutes at most. That is no easy feat, specially when you take into consideration the set never changes so every actor has to remember their lines front to back with no opportunity for a last second refresher once the action begins!
You can catch 12 Angry Jurors February 20th, 21st, 26th, 27th and 28th at Th’YARC in Yarmouth beginning at 7:30 each night, I’d highly recommend it!
