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Twelve angry men: A play in two acts

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"12 Angry Men" was the last play I read in my Drama Literature class. It is very well worth reading because of its brilliance. It is a play that you should either read or watch performed, whether it's the television version or the play version. The reasons are these:

1. The story centers around twelve jurors who consist of ordinary people who must decide whether to vote the defendent as guilty or innocent. They must decide carefully, though, because if they vote guilty, they might send an innocent person to death, but if they vote not guilty, they might send a murderer out on the streets. The whole plot and story is a very good look at our justice system.

2. The characters are well developed, realistic, and interact together very well. You never do know the names of the characters, but you do get to see the ways they interact together, whether they are sympathetic or stubborn, or whether they seek justice or have no mercy. Some are passive, some are angressive, and some are young, some are old, and some are rich, some are poor.

3. Themes of this play include stubborness, standing alone, conflicting personalities, common sense, and anger. Common sense is an especially significant theme with the way the jurors study whether the evidence is reasonable and make their arguements over it.

4. The story, simple setting, and believeable characters work out very well. It's not dull, and in contrary it's very interesting.

All in all, this play is well worth picking up or seeing performed. Please don't miss out on this cleverly written play.

There are times when a message is conveyed with a clarity so absolute that it rises of its own accord to great heights, as if it were lighter than air. "Twelve Angry Men" achieves this rare feat of buoyancy.

Make no mistake; this is a play with a Message. It pounds away at its Message relentlessly, scene after scene, passage after passage, at times, word by word. Yet it moralizes with such dramatic skill, that we overlook the play's ruthless blatancy and are carried away by the force of its conviction.

I am not giving anything away when I tell you that this play is about the presumption of innocence, the evil of racism, the importance of moral courage and the meaning of citizenship. In fact, this is the sort of play that struts about, proudly parading its themes as brazenly as it can. There is nothing subtle, refined or nuanced about "Twelve Angry Men". It is about a man who finds himself holding a contrary conviction alone against a hostile mob and who finds not only the courage to stand up to them, but to reason with the mob until, one by one, he wins them over to his more enlightened views.

It contains everything that your English professor deplored: obvious themes, stereotypes, absurdly polarized action, melodrama, contrivance, and manufactured tension. Yet it works. It is not only unashamed of its coarseness--it is proud of it, daring us to call its plebeian pedigree into question. There are many enjoyable things about this play, not least its sheer audacity.

There is a lot of yelling, a lot of anger, a profusion of lurid dialogue directed at raising the temperature inside a confined little room. In one respect, the author chooses a perfect setting for his transparent psychological drama: the jurors in this play are themselves captives of the law, unable to escape until they have served their time and paid their dues to society.

I can understand how some may dislike this play for its lack of refinement. But I enjoyed it immensely. If it is coarse, it is also sincere. If it is high-handed, it is also unpretentious. For every moral that it bludgeons into our head, it takes pains to make sure that it is a worthwhile moral, and one now too often sacrificed to political convenience. Think of the terrorism suspects held for years now without open trial in Guantanamo.

We are blessed to live in a society that champions freedom, the worth of the individual and the primacy of law. This play shows how that blessing must be earned and reaffirmed every day. It shows that the defence of those values require more than just physical defence, but involve mental and philosophical defences as well. Mostly, this play shows that the strength of a society resides in its average ordinary people, and it shows this truth so powerfully that it forces its way into our consciousness, our consciences and ultimately our reflections on life. Well worth the read.

As I began to read this book I thought this was a book I needed to read for class and it was going to be boring. As I read it I couldn't seem to put it down. There was always something suspensful or interesting that made me want to turn the page and see what happened next. This book is a good book about twelve jurors who have varied opinions on the issues involving a court case. They expected to come to a quick comclusion and it didn't happen. This is a book about sticking to your opinions whether someone else feels you are right are wrong. It shows how to stand up for yourself and to be strong and back-up your opinions with facts and pursuade others to understand your point of view in order to xcome to a conclusion. It involves learning how to work in teams, how to delegate authority and how to come to a comclusion which everyone can be happy with and feel confident that it is the right thing to do. This book although it is about a court case and jurors, also relates to every day life in the fact that it's concepts about working as a team and sticking to your goals and opinions is very important when it comes to anything you do in life, no matter how long it takes to "get it right."

Twelve Angry Men is undoubtedly one of the best dialogue-driven stories of modern times. I would recommend that everyone be exposed to this story in either book, play or movie format sometime in their life. However, for anyone who has difficulty with reading or concentration, this particular format may prove somewhat difficult. The characters do not have names but only go by "Juror #1," "Juror #2," etc. It can be difficult to keep up with which character is which. Otherwise, one of the best stories around.

Based on Reginald rose's teleplay, which then became an Academy Award nominated film, TWELVE ANGRY MEN is dynamite listening. The cast is stellar, including Dan Castellaneta (remembered for the voice of Homer Simpson); Jeffrey Donovan (to be seen in Sundance's Come Early Morning); Hector Elizondo (Pretty Woman and the Princess Diaries); Robert Foxworth (who played juror #3 on Broadway); James Gleason (The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd); Kevin Kilner (Shopgirl); Richard Kind (Spin City, Curb Your Enthusiasm); Armin Shimerman (Star Voyager); and Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues).

As they've shown in the past, LA Theatre works presents the best in audio drama, always offering award worthy performances by gifted actors before a live audience. Twelve Angry Men is one more amazing dramatic experience.

As most know, the Twelve Angry Men comprise a jury that is charged with determining the fate of a 19-year-old boy who stands accused of murdering his father. The action takes place during one afternoon as their deliberations reveal the biases and character of each man. This is a drama that has stood the test of time, speaking to us as eloquently today as it did some 50 years ago.

Riveting listening!

- Gail Cooke

Correction: The defendant in the play is 19 years old, not 16, as one reviewer said.

This play, based on a 1954 television drama, can't compare with the classic 1957 movie (starring Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb). The play is interesting read and is probably fun to perform, but the movie screenplay is just so much better in terms of characterization, dialogue, etc. In addition, the decision to break the play up into acts is, in my view, a mistake; quite obviously, this play should be performed in one continuous act (since the movie is only 90 minutes, this doesn't seem impractical).Read the play, but also see the movie! (I would suggest this especially to schoolteachers who are using this script for class: show the movie to your students as well!)

I have Found "Twelve Angry Men" to be a worthwhile text for 16-18 year olds to explore as they start to show interest in the increasing coverage of trials through the mass media. One interesting task was to condider how it might have to be changed to reflect life in the "90s and to see which, if any of the jurors, could be changed to women. When I had a small group of 17-18 years olds put on this play they did it in the round and with a mixed cast. This was an absorbing and very challenging exercise for all concerned. At the same time I bought into the classroom documents I had received as part of my call to be a juror. These allowed us to place the play in our local context and set up the beginnings of thinking about this important challenge in the life of ordinary civilians. It's certainly not the the most earth shattering play that I have read but for the readers I was working with was certainly accessible and it allowed them to have success as they worked through it.

We have just finished this reading this play in my Lit. Class( 7th grade) and I actually really enjoyed it! It mostly centers around the theme of the courage to be different and standing up for one's own beliefs. What surprised me the most was at the end, Juror #3 gives up because he is afraid to stand alone in contrast to Juror #8 who was the only one in the beg. of the play who believed that maybe the boy wasn't really guilty and that he deserved a fair decision made by the jury members. This is also written by the same author who wrote the play "Thunder on Sycamore Street" which also deals with basically the same themes.

I teach this play in high school, and students just love it. If you use the book with the movie, they can study the texts and learn a lot about what is the truth and the value of fighting for it and overcoming our laziness. It also explains well the jury system and racism in the 1950s. Overall you teach them a lot about character and a lot about America. The movie is also excellent.

Long before any John Grisham novel, there was Twelve Angry Men. I had to read this play in grade school, and it is the reason why I am hooked on both mysteries and plays to this day. As you read, you imagine yourself sitting in that jury room and how you would be thinking and reacting in the same situation. The movie, too, is just as superb!