My Verdict of Twelve Angry Men

On Friday, April 18, I attended the Henderson State University production of Twelve Angry Men. Reginald Rose wrote the playwright of Twelve Angry Men and Sherman L. Sergel had it adapted. The performance took place in the Arkansas Hall Studio Theatre on Henderson State campus. Fortunately, I had the opportunity of watching the Good Friday performance of this play and it did everything but disappoint. I didn’t know much about this playwright before entering the theater other than it took place in a jury room and was set in the 1950’s. The message of this play was an important one, which would not be easily forgotten.

The dynamics were played out excellently by the use of unity of time, place, and action. The climate was heated and so too were the members of the jury as the story progressed. The characters grew to understand each other and the audience learns more and more about the individuals. Perhaps, the motive for that said characters verdict or backstory on the matter. A few characters were highly stereotypical and the actors did a worthy job in portrayed them as accurately as possible. For such a short production, it was an extremely elaborate one. The absence of an intermission also played an important role in keeping the audience submerged in the action. The use of the thrust stage made the acting and situation feel more real. The message was powerful and received well by the audience.

The play begins with the monologue of the judge explaining the courtroom case circumstances. It explains the situation that the jury is to determine if the 18-year-old boy is guilty or innocent of murdering his father, and that if the boy is convicted, he will receive the death penalty. It is mandatory for the jury to have a unanimous verdi...

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...e costumes were that of the 1950s. The men were wearing suits, ties, and suspenders and the women wore dresses, skirts, large glasses, and flowery hats. The lighting and the scenery stayed constant throughout the play. The lights focused on the jury room and the scenery was consistent of what would be in a jury room. There were things such as a large table, chairs, water, pencils, paper, and a whole lot of cigarettes.

In conclusion, this production was one of my favorites that I had ever seen. The storyline was interesting and intense throughout. The designers and actors brought the message across perfectly, which made the play a great success. There were a lot of messages portrayed in this play; however, I believe the most important would be the need for justice. It is important to give the people a fair trial and that it is dangerous to be stereotypical in life.