Southwestern Magazine | Spring 2020

B Y O L I V I A W I S E ' 1 8 40 SOUTHWESTERN Students perform tense scenes during Southwestern's production of 12 Angry Jurors . Photos by Carlos Barron Jr. ’10 T H E C O MM O N S THE 1957FILM 12ANGRYMEN earned its reputation as an American classic and one of the greatest courtroomdramas of all time. This pastNovember, Southwestern students revived the film’s timeless debate in their production of 12 Angry Jurors , adapted for the stage by Sherman L. Sergel. In this compelling 75-minute drama, 12 jurors convene inanuncomfortablyhot room to decide the fate of a youngman of color on trial for his father’s murder. All vote guilty exceptforone,ajurorwhopressesforadeeper discussion. The heat rises as the lone juror’s argument for reasonable doubt pressures others to reevaluate not only the strength of the evidence but also the insidious impact of their own prejudices. For audiences familiar with the classic film, Southwestern’s 12 Angry Jurors brought a fresh perspective to the story. Featuring a mixed cast of five men and seven women, including people of color, the production provided an opportunity to see the jurors’ beliefs and choices through a different lens of human experience. The all-student cast worked hard to develop nuanced, realistic performances under the direction of Kathleen Juhl. A professor of theatre at Southwesternwho specializes in acting and theatre for social justice, Juhlwas excited for audiences to see the dimensions of character that each student brought to the stage. Paired with this new perspective was the thrill of being in the room with the action. “Seeing it live, there is in someways evenmore a sense of danger, because it’s right there in front of you,” says Juhl. When theoriginal filmwas released in1957, the tension in the jury roommirrored cultural tension inAmerica, as volatility festered around issues ofMcCarthyism, communism, and fascism. More than 60 years later, the cultural issues have changed, but the parallels of outrage remain relevant. “I have never before seen this kind of volatile anger going on in our culture,” says Juhl. The message 12 Angry Jurors offers is perhaps more pertinent now than ever. “It’s a play about racism; it’s a play about civil discourse. It’s a play that’s really connected to our cultural times right nowand to our political climate,” Juhl says. “These jurors are angry, but they come to the acquittal of the accused because, in some ways, one courageous juror forces them to have some semblance of sensible discourse about the case.” She hopes audiences walked away from the show thinking about the danger of adopting monolithic views on issues and the responsibility that we share as a society to think harder and talk through those issues together. 12 Angry Jurors