Twelve Angry Jurors

JASON ZHU EDITOR AND CHIEF
It has been the Alhambra’s Thespian Society and Drama Department’s annual tradition to stage their rendition of a contemporary play for the community every November. This year, the Thespians are proud to perform Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Juror”.
This year’s play is a heightened courtroom thriller, in contrast to last year’s “Blithe Spirit”, which was an intensely funny comedy.
“This show is very different from how we prepared our previous shows as our drama department is representing a different genre of plays and sets.” junior Thomas Keenan said.
Also known as “Twelve Angry Men”, the narrative takes place on a hot summer day after a trial. A jury must decide whether a 17-year-old boy is guilty of parricide, and the judgment lays in the hands the 12 jurors. The play focuses on the jurors’ heated deliberation, as Rose paints the American court trials not as purely logical and reasonable discourses, but rather emotional struggles of conflicting perspectives and different experiences.
“The play is about how 12 jurors, almost after a week of cross examinations and after hearing many witness and testimonies have to decide on whether or not a 17 year old boy is guilty of the murder of his father. Everyone is quite irritated at the length of the trial and extremely hot weather. All but one juror vote guilty, as the rest try to convince her otherwise.” freshman Bob Liu said.
All the members of the cast put in hours each day rehearsing lines at home and downtime from school. Many Thespians are pleased with the unity the play created among the crew.
“My experience in the play has been different to any other I’ve had. I’ve met people I consider my closest friends now and grown closer to people I already knew.” sophomore Victoria Cervantes said.
Drama Teacher Rachel Snow-Fornari, who serves as the chief director of the fall production, administered Thespians technical director Brian Cole in constructing platform sets along with numerous volunteers. On the other hand, assistant director Lewis Snow ran rehearsals with the cast members.
“It was a long tough process, not only from the cast but our two directors and the tech crew as well, who have done a wonderful job in making this show possible.” senior Alexander Martinez said, “The show is something that we all worked hard for, [and] you can never get as great as an experience like this anywhere else but at the theater.”
The Thespians are excited to present “Twelve Angry Jurors”. The tickets are sold at a rate of $8 per student and $10 per adult. They will be staging a total of 3 shows at the AHS auditorium, respectively at 7 p.m. on Nov. 16 and 17, as well as 11 a.m. on Nov. 18.