Twelve Angry Men (play)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For other productions, see Twelve Angry Men.
New York City, New York

Twelve Angry Men is a play by

American Airlines Theatre
, where it ran for 328 performances.

Characters and story

The drama depicts a jury deliberating a verdict in a murder trial, in which the case at hand pertains to whether a young man murdered his own father. The story begins after

mistrial
.) The jury is further instructed that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence.

In the jury room, the first vote is a nearly unanimous decision of guilty, with a single "undecided" dissenter, who throughout the deliberations sows a seed of

reasonable doubt
. The jurors become acquainted with the personalities of their peers. Several of them have different reasons for discriminating against the defendant: his race, his background, and the troubled relationship between one juror and his own son. The one dissenter gradually wins over the other jurors to a unanimous not-guilty verdict, by questioning the reliability of the evidence presented in court and exposing his fellow jurors' prejudices.

The characters are unnamed; throughout their

deliberation
, not a single juror calls another by his name, and they are identified in the script merely by number.

Productions

Ljubljana Drama Theatre
in 1959

Rose wrote several variations on his own stage adaptation of the teleplay.

Dramatic rights to the film were sold and several versions based on the film were staged. It was staged in San Francisco in 1955

Andre Obey in Paris.[2]

In 1964, Leo Genn appeared in the London production, directed by Margaret Webster. For other theatrical adaptations, wherein female actors are cast, the play is often retitled 12 Angry People or 12 Angry Jurors.

Comedy Theatre
in London the same year.

In 2003, the British producer/director

Edinburgh Fringe Festival which broke the existing box office record for drama at the Fringe Festival and garnered much critical acclaim.[5]

The

Rene Auberjonois
as "#5".

In 2005, the British producer/director

Sydney Theatre and Melbourne Athenaeum including Shane Bourne as Juror 3, Peter Phelps as Juror 4, Marcus Graham as Juror 8, George Kapiniaris as Juror 2 and Henri Szeps as Juror 9.[7] This production won three Melbourne Green Room Awards and a nomination for "Best Play" at the Helpmann Awards
.

Actors perform the mixed-gender version "Twelve Angry Jurors" at a community theatre in North Carolina

In 2007, L.A. Theatre Works presented a production of the play that was recorded as an audiobook; directed by John de Lancie, the cast included Dan Castellaneta, Jeffrey Donovan, Héctor Elizondo, Robert Foxworth, James Gleason, Kevin Kilner, Richard Kind, Alan Mandell, Rob Nagle, Armin Shimerman, Joe Spano, and Steve Vinovich.[8]

The London West End production opened in November 2013 (running until March 1, 2014) at the Garrick Theatre. Directed by Christopher Haydon, the cast included Martin Shaw, Robert Vaughn, Jeff Fahey, Nick Moran, Robert Blythe, Miles Richardson and Martin Turner.[9]

In 2014, Independent Theatre Pakistan performed an adaptation of this play at Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore, directed by Azeem Hamid.[10]

Screen adaptations

Studio One

Cast:

Sweeney and Voskovec repeated their parts in the 1957 film.

A 1957 feature film adaptation, produced and written by Rose himself, and directed by Sidney Lumet. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Cast:

A 1997 feature film adaptation, directed by William Friedkin.

Cast:

12. A 2007 film adaptation. Director Nikita Michalkov

Cast:

Awards and nominations

2004 Broadway revival

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2005
Tony Award
 Best Revival of a Play Nominated
Best Actor in a Play Philip Bosco Nominated
Best Direction of a Play Scott Ellis Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Revival of a Play Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Philip Bosco Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Play Scott Ellis Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award
 Outstanding Revival of a Play Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Philip Bosco Nominated
Drama League Award Distinguished Revival of a Play Won

See also

References

  1. Newspapers.com
    .
  2. Archive.org
    .
  3. ^ a b "Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, The Bristol Old Vic, 7 March 1996". HaroldPinter.org. Harold Pinter. March 7, 1996. Retrieved March 7, 2009.
  4. ^ Theatre Tours International Past Shows
  5. ^ Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scotland.org.
  6. ^ Theatre Tours International Past Shows
  7. ^ Guy Masterson's Australian Production of 12 Angry Men
  8. ^ "Twelve Angry Men". DC Public Library. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  9. London Evening Standard. Alexander Lebedev/Evgeny Lebedev/Daily Mail and General Trust
    . Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  10. ^ "Pakistan Today Paperazzi Issue #25". issuu. February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  11. ^ Studio One In Hollywood: "Twelve Angry Men", IMDb

Further reading

External links
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