Junior Jordin Bradley stands on a chair to achieve the approxi- mate height of the victim as Se- nior Francis Finnegan pretends to be the murderer. (Becca Tabor | THE BEACON)
By Lydia Laythe, Staff Writer laythe16@up.edu
Tension builds in the room. The jury must decide: guilty or not guilty. Did the son murder his father? Did the old man upstairs lie? Is there reasonable doubt? The man spins around angrily, shouting at a woman across the stage, throwing a wooden chair crashing to the floor. Then silence. Chilling, suffocating silence.
The play "12 Angry Jurors" is showing in the Mago Hunt Theater this weekend, Feb. 27 through March 3, and it is filled with tension.
Director Jerry Entze is excited to see the audience's reaction to his version of the play.
"I've been working on this for a long time," Entze said. "It's a murder mystery in a way, but we're not deciding who did or who didn't do it. It's a whole new twist."
When the play begins, all 12 actors walk on stage and stay there for the entire show. The set doesn't change. People don't go off stage. The show happens in real time, like a real jury deliberation occurs.
Entze worked hard to balance all those aspects of the show.
"Coordinating that many people on stage for a whole hour and a half of the show proved to be quite the challenge," Entze said.
The many characters and interactions challenged each actor. Senior Francis T. Finnegan III was confrontational and arrogant in the show, which is not like him normally.
"This play is exciting for me because it's a character that I've never been," Finnegan said. "It's not my personality."
Many of the characters were intense and had heated interactions, which Finnegan says created thrilling conflict.
"[The tension] is extremely exciting," Finnegan said. "It pulls you forward and engages you completely."
Senior Hillary Joseph, another juror, hopes the honest emotions engage the audience.
"There are a lot of emotions," Joseph said. "People can connect with that and put themselves in that place like 'What would you do? What would you do if you were put on this jury?'"
Junior Jordin Bradley, who plays Finnegan's main opposition, says the most difficult part of the show was creating a character behind the lines.
"There's no real character background that you get from the show," Bradley said. "In order to give them depth, and not just make them stereotypes, we had to do a lot of work."
Bradley said the thematic value of the show made the hard work worthwhile.
"It's a great show because it talks a lot about the power a person can have in standing up for what they believe in and I think that's a really relevant and really important theme for today," Bradley said. "You can have a voice no matter what the odds are."
'12 Angry Jurors'
When: Feb. 27 - March 2
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m.
General Admission: $10
Students/Seniors: $5. Free on Wednesday and Thursday
(Becca Tabor | THE BEACON)
The jury takes the initial vote to decide whether or not the accused young man is guilty. (Becca Tabor | THE BEACON)
(Becca Tabor | THE BEACON)
Senior Clarke Orr smokes a cigarette to relieve the stress of deciding whether or not a young man is guilty of murder. (Becca Tabor | THE BEACON)
(Becca Tabor | THE BEACON)
