Igniting emotions and critical thinking

On Feb. 25 and 26, Lawrence’s Buskins Theater Ensemble performed their adaptation of Reginald Rose’s classic, “12 Angry Men.”

However, since the cast was a mixture of both males and females, the name was altered to “12 Angry People” to better reflect Lawrence High School’s diverse student population. The ensemble first attempted the show last year, performing

it as two separate shows, one with the original all male cast, and one with an all-female cast. With a deepened understanding of the complex play and a unified cast, the ensemble attempted the show once again determined to do it justice.

The foreman was portrayed by Yael Oken, with Jon Rosenfeld, Toni Cruz, Antonio Perrella, Stacy Portillo, Jason Eras, Andrew Johnson, Owen Dredger, Nia Robertson, Naomi Oken, Gabby Oken, and Joseph Baracaldo, playing jurors two through 12.

The play takes place in a New York City jury room, where a dozen jurors from different backgrounds must decide the fate of a young man accused of killing his father. The play begins with all the jurors preparing to vote “guilty”, presuming the boy to have committed the crime. However, the juror No. 8 votes “not guilty”, forcing them to all further deliberate.

As the play progresses, the juror No. 8 further builds his argument, slowly convincing the other jurors to change their minds. The play ends with a unanimous “not guilty” vote. The facility with which juror No. 8 is able to convince each other juror’s mind reveals the true motives of each of the jurors.Some vote “not guilty” simply because others have or to speed up the process, while others have deep, restrictive biases until the very end.

Rather than being performed on stage, the play was performed in the audience section while the audience watched from the stage. This unique setup was used to really make the viewers feel as if they were truly looking in on the situation.

One particularly memorable scene featured juror No. 3 chasing juror No. 8 around the auditorium and onto the stage in anger, shouting at him and threatening to kill him. The juror No. 8 used this to strengthen his case that even though he threatened to kill him, it is merely a figure of speech, just as the young man may also have been using figure of speech when he made a similar threat.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of this play is not the plot itself, but how it forces the audience to react. With the prominence of trials such as Michael Brown, Casey Anthony and O.J. Simpson, we are made to think about our interpretation
of justice daily.

“12 Angry People” also aims to make the audience truly think about what they
would do in a similar situation, and the nameless jurors only helps viewers to choose whose position they would choose. It was truly a powerful, thought provoking performance.