Twelve Angry Men

Byron Abalos, Joseph Ziegler, Michael Simpson, Stuart Hughes, Jordan Pettle & Tony DeSantis. Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann.

"How can the life of such a man be in the palm of some fool's hand?" The lyrics to Bob Dylan's "Hurricane" come to mind during Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men, a riveting legal drama now on stage in a new production directed by Alan Dilworth as part of Soulpepper's summer season.

First presented as a live television drama in 1954, Twelve Angry Men went on to Broadway and became a Hollywood film starring Henry Fonda in 1957. The story takes place in a New York City court house on the "hottest day of the year" as a group of 12 jurors meet to decide the fate of a 16-year-old boy charged with murdering his own father. At first, all of the evidence points to a guilty verdict—that is until one man, Juror 8 (Stuart Hughes), raises his hand and votes "not guilty," introducing the concept of reasonable doubt. Much to the annoyance of the men who had hoped it would be an open-and-shut case, Juror 8's questioning leads to an intense debate in which the so-called facts are revealed to be unreliable. By the end of the sweltering evening, it is clear that prejudice and fear played a part in the group's initial judgement.

Featuring a solid set by Yannik Larivee, Dilworth's production makes great use of the intimate jury room space. The audience is seated on either side of the stage, witness to the arguments that unfold under a ceiling dripping with condensation. A thunder storm adds to the tension in the second half, and tempers flare in what becomes a life-or-death fight for justice.

The characters in Twelve Angry Men are suberbly cast here: Hughes brings a calm strength to the role of the enlightened Juror 8, William Webster is delightfully ignorant as the bigoted Juror 10, and Joseph Ziegler delivers a scorching performance as angry Juror 3. The other jurors, including the Foreman of the Jury (Tony DeSantis), Juror 2 (Derek Boyes), Juror 4 (Tim Campbell), Juror 5 (Byron Abalos), Juror 6 (Michael Simpson), Juror 7 (Cyrus Lane), Juror 9 (Robert Nasmith), Juror 11 (Jordan Pettle), and Juror 12 (Joe Cobden), are representative of men from a variety of classes and cultures. Each brings a different perspective when piecing together the case. You just might recognize yourself in some of them.

Captivating, thought provoking and explosively entertaining, Twelve Angry Men makes for an excellent night of theatre. Don't miss your chance to be part of the proceedings.

Twelve Angry Men runs until July 19 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Visit soulpepper.ca for more information and to buy tickets.

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