Twelve Angry Men

Pendragon Theatre brings Reginald Rose's classic drama to life

Story by Jeremy Fisher

Reginald Rose's famous jury room drama 12 Angry Men was brought to the stage at SUNY Plattsburgh thanks to Saranac Lake's Pendragon Theatre and their traveling actors and crew. The performance which was held in the E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium on February 16 was presented by the SUNY Plattsburgh Theater Department and in part by the Student Association.

The plot of the play involves twelve jurors debating with one another over a young man on trial for murder. Eleven out of twelve of the jury members believe the defendant is without a doubt guilty, but one juror has one tough conscience and decides that the case deserves lengthy consideration from him and to their reluctance, the other jurors. Shouting, insults and threats are exchanged as the play unfolds while the lone juror carefully and slowly begins to show the defendant's innocence through the evidence and his intelligence.

Though Rose originally wrote the production for the stage, Pendragon seemed to get their basis from the famous 1957 movie starring Henry Fonda and directed by Sidney Lumet. Aside for a few scenes in a bathroom, the entire play is set in the jury room where there is a table surrounded by the twelve characters. Another odd thing to note is that you never learn any character names. On the program they are simply listed as juror one through twelve but they never refer to numbers during the actual play.

The Pendragon actors in the production are all men and their ages seem to range from thirty-something to senior. There is no question that the actors are experienced stage performers due to their ability to capture the intensity of certain moments. However, the position of the actors on stage is bothersome at many instances because they are sitting around a table while there are many actors on stage at the same time. This is confusing because the actors' backs are often to the audience and makes it unclear who is speaking.

An interesting feature that Pendragon offered was on stage seating for audience members. At both ends of the stage were two rows of seats which sandwiches the main stage in the middle where all the acting took place. Audience members are given the chance to get an up close and personal view of the action as opposed to their regular auditorium seating. This method probably was thought off when Pendragon new that the play can get confusing for the audience and offered a chance for clarity.

Overall the performance is worth seeing due to its quality acting and story matter. It gets a little slow at times and the confusion certainly does not help the pace of the story. The play however is good one and I strongly suggest seeing 12 Angry Men on stage or on film the next time you have a chance.

What do you think of 12 Angry Men?