Tasha Lewis | Phoenix Staff

Starting from the left, Jessica Schleider, Mark Lewis, Ben Hattem and Kim Kramer are among the cast of ensemble piece “12 Angry Men.”

BY MICHAEL GLUK

In print | Published April 9, 2009

Before “12 Angry Men” went into production, directors Dustin Trabert ’10 and James Robinson ’10 sat each actor down individually to ask a series of questions about their characters, the answers to which could not be found directly in the script. “Essentially,” Trabert said, “we were asking who each character is and the actors would fill in the blanks.” The unusually character-driven nature of the play demanded just such an unusual directing approach. The entirety of “12 Angry Men,” written by Reginald Rose, takes place in a single jury deliberation room as a lone dissenter tries to convince the eleven-member majority to reverse its guilty verdict on the grounds of reasonable doubt. Such a set up means that the action of the play is impelled by individual characters rather than by external circumstances. Trabert continued, “It’s a play about democracy and the political process and exclusion, but it’s more about characters than politics. It’s really about the interplay between different individuals.”

All 12 characters remain on stage throughout the entire play, resulting in a “big ensemble piece without any star roles,” Robinson said. This aspect of the script has fostered particularly strong relationships between the play’s cast members, as each member must be present throughout the entirety of each thrice-weekly rehearsal. Hopefully, this closeness will manifest in particularly developed and realistic dynamics between actors during the production. “So few plays are written like this, where all actors are on stage at all times,” Jessica Schleider ’12, a cast members, said. “It really forces you to know every character and everyone’s backgrounds and what is going into the play at all times.”

The attention to character makes the play well suited to its directors. As Robinson explained, “We’re both in a lot of ways actors by trade. Theater is really an actor’s medium more than a director’s medium. It’s a director’s job to give directions to the actors, to make sure that the play coheres.” Trabert said, “Twelve people approaching the same script [are] not going to approach it the same way. We need to make sure everything fits together.”

Perhaps the most interesting challenge involved in the production of this play is the issue of gender. As its title might suggest, “12 Angry Men” was written for and originally performed exclusively by men in the script’s initial 1957 motion picture debut. Swarthmore’s performance of the play will defy this convention by making the play gendered, featuring both male and female actors playing characters of their gender. “At least for me, the choice to use actresses was a very deliberate one,” Robinson said. “We wanted to make the play ours.”

Including both genders adds the entirely new aspect of gender dynamics to the play. “Really, the gendered characters translated unexpectedly well into the play. There was no real need to rework the script,” Schleider said. The production adheres almost exactly to the original script, altering only words that denote a specific gender. On the play’s inclusion of both genders, actor Will Treece ’11 said, “All sorts of things pop up. We have some flirting between the characters … Also, there are several patronizing lines about women in the play and those are all the more important now that we have women on the stage.” Sarah Chasins ’12 added, “It’s interesting going back to the 1950s, when women wouldn’t have been doing the things they’re doing in this show.” The inclusion of both genders provides a modern perspective on this classic script.

“12 Angry Men” opens on the main stage of the Lang Performing Arts Center on Friday, April 10, 8 p.m, Saturday, April 11, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 12, 2 p.m.

Watch the video preview of “12 Angry Men” here.

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