We never see inside the courtroom, but we hear the judge's instructions to the jury members. They must decide the fate of a sixteen-year-old boy who stands accused of Murder-One, a premeditated attack. The jurors consider whether a "last straw" beating and verbal abuse by the father caused the defendant to buy a singularly carved switchblade, then return home to stab his father to death. The verdict must be unanimous. If found Guilty, there can be no plea for mercy; the accused faces a death penalty. But if there is any reasonable doubt, the judge orders, the verdict must be Not Guilty.
As the twelve enter the institutionally unadorned jury room, they complain of the heat. The sole wall fan doesn't work. Eagerly, they cast their first vote, certain they will all agree so they can get out quickly. But the vote is not unanimous. A lone holdout, Juror #8, just isn't so sure - and believes that because a man's life is at stake, they ought to talk about it a little.
So begins a drama that is among the most compelling and suspenseful ever written, an ensemble piece for a dozen actors that has few equals. Even if one has seen this before, as an original TV production, as a movie, or as a play performed at a local high school, it still commands every member of the audience to listen once again to its message about what it means to be an American.
The title of Twelve Angry Men refers to a dozen jurors debating a verdict for a murder trial. Their anger evolves through four stages. At first, some are angry about being locked into an airless room on the hottest day of the year. Paid just $3/day for this task, they have better things to do. Juror #7 notes it's already five o'clock, and he has tickets to a baseball game that starts at 8:00 pm. The action occurs in real time, with a large clock overhead.
The anger that divides will also unify them. Anger is next directed against one another at the lone holdout and then others want to review the evidence that seemed so absolute. Could eyewitnesses have made mistakes? Might they have lied? With each subsequent call for a vote, the balance shifts.
Indecision and uncertainty soon reveal fears. Several jurors vent prejudices, spewing their rage at the defendant's race or nationality, an identity that's never stated, but we note that the jurors are twelve white men; just one has a Central European accent, a watchmaker who might be a refugee from Hitler's or Stalin's ambitions. No one in the room has clear ancestral ties to Latin America, Africa, the Middle East or Asia.
Last is a seething anger that some men carry within themselves over past hurts, revealed when the final holdout blurts out how the youthful defendant evokes painful memories of his own estranged son.
The author, REGINALD ROSE, who died in April 2002 at age eighty-one, updated the stage play only very slightly from the original Studio One version on TV in 1954 or the Oscar-nominated 1957 film (best film, best screenplay). The play is closer to the teleplay: there's one set and only the jury and a lone guard are seen. In updating the play, some of the anachronisms must remain so that we know this is the nineteen-fifties: the jury is all male, there is smoking in the room; each juror wears business attire, including a jacket and tie; and there is racial and gender imbalance (A 1997 teleplay included several black jurors.) Had the time been updated, the premise would have weakened; a recent New York Times article pointed out that now, in New York, there is no capital punishment for those under 18, and that the death penalty is no longer mandatory.
Yet, in the light of recent threats to our country, the play is a stirring spur to our responsibilities as citizens in a free society and continues to attract "A-list" performers to its roles. Acting has to be tip-top in this fast-paced ensemble piece. Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company on the fiftieth anniversary of its initial debut, most of the thirteen cast members of Twelve Angry Men are recognized stage and screen stars that have headlined other major productions.
Just as they took their bows, as an ensemble, I'll list them here: TOM ALDREDGE, MARK BLUM, PHILIP BOSCO, LARRY BRYGGMAN, ROBERT CLOHESSY, PETER FRIEDMAN, BOYD GAINES, KEVIN GEER, MICHAEL MASTRO, MATTE OSIAN, JOHN PANKOW, JAMES REBHORN, and ADAM TRESE. All are uniformly excellent. Director SCOTT ELLIS can be proud of his work here. He stages the action so that the speaker, wherever he stands or sits onstage, is easily visible by all members of the audience.
Set design by ALLEN MOYER is spare: chairs, table, clock, fan, light switch, coat rack in the jury room; a shifting stage when the lavatory needs to be seen. Lighting (PAUL PALAZZO), sound (BRIAN RONAN), and costume design (MICHAEL KRASS) are unobtrusive, and therefore, supportive. It's a simple drama in a simple setting with no fancy costumes, but you get your money's worth.
Uncertain times call forth strong voices to lead us. Again, as in the fifties, the threat from outside is real - but the dangers from inside undermine the very system that needs defending. Twelve Angry Men reminds us of our priorities.