Twelve Angry Men

by Reginald Rose, adapted by Sherman L. Sergel
directed by Claudia Wade
Thurs.-Sat., April 21-May 7, 8:00 p.m.
The Davies Foundation Auditorium
52 Church St., Kingston, ON

 

A 16-year-old has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. It looks like an open-and-shut case until one of the jurors begins opening the others' eyes to the facts.

Among the jurors are men who are sure of the defendant's guilt based on little more than his background, and men who are more concerned about getting back to their own lives than about his guilt or innocence. But there are also jurors who want to be sure of the facts, including one who escaped from a country where justice was rarely done and who reminds the others not to take it for granted, and one who simply cannot convict a man "without talking about it first."

As they discuss the case, it becomes clear that the supposed murderer—while he is clearly no saint—has not been well defended, and that a verdict of guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt" may be harder to justify than most of the jurors believed. And yet, the danger of a wrongful conviction must be weighed against the danger of releasing a killer who might kill again.

Reginald Rose wrote Twelve Angry Men as a television play in 1954. Rose is said to have been inspired to write it after doing jury duty in a murder trial. He made it into a stage play the following year, and later into a movie, in which Henry Fonda played a starring role, and which was nominated for three Academy Awards (but lost to The Bridge on the River Kwai in all three categories).

Cast

Jurors - Damien Schaefer, Doug Stewart, Jason Bowen, Grant Buckler, Martin Fobert, Kevin Shipley, Josh Ginsberg, Steve Powell, Gene Lee, John Geddes, Richard Palimaka, James Gow

Guard - Ben Hudson

Judge - Graeme Watson

Production Crew

Producers - Pat Oosthuizen, Bill Morrow

Director - Claudia Wade

Stage Manager - Rick Taylor

Asst. Stage Manager - Claire LeSage

Set & Lighting Design - David L Smith

Sound Design - Katie Flower-Smith

Costume Design - Sarah Toomey

Chief Carpenter - Dave Oliver

Sound/Lighting Operation - Liz Martin, Doug McNichol

Properties & Set Dressing - Claire Lesage

Hair & Makeup - Kelti Roy

Set Construction - Bob Brooks, Grant Buckler, Doug McNichol, Doug Stewart, James Gow, Lorna Jodoin, Claire LeSage

Set Painting - Bob Brooks, Grant Buckler, Doug McNichol, Doug Stewart, James Gow, Lorna Jodoin, Claire LeSage

Fight Director - Glen Rea

Poster Design - Katie Flower-Smith

Lobby Pictures - Claudia Wade

Archival Photos - Grant Buckler, Claudia Wade

Lobby Art Curator - Karen Peperkorn

Front of House Coordinator - Steve Powell