Reginald Rose

New York, summer 1954 Criminal Courts Building A man is dead The life of another is at stake A "guilty" verdict seems a foregone conclusion. But one member of the jury has the will to probe more deeply into the evidence and the courage to confront the ignorance and the prejudice of some of his fellow jurors. The conflict which follows is fierce and passionate, cutting straight to the heart of the issues of civil liberties and social justice. This edition was published to coincide with the new production directed by Harold Pinter which opened in the West End in 1996.

Twelve Angry Men

Lynn

I’m not a play person, but I saw this movie a while back and it intrigued me. Now reading the book I admire how well the director did at bringing it to life. This play is an exceptionally interesting take on democracy and the influence of privilege, race, prejudice and us-them thinking have on the justice system. Short but effective story that keeps you thinking on the topic of the fallibility of jury duty.

Sian Wadey

I have been considering directing a project for my local amateur theatre and narrowed it down to Twelve Angry Men and 'The History Boys'. I'd seen the film for the former and only knew it was a play because it was recently performed in Birmingham with Martin Shaw and Robert Vaughn.
When I'd first seen the film, my main thought was the tension. Not a lot physically happens and it's very dialogue heavy, but I was hooked from the minute the twelve men entered the jury room to the minute they exited.
The play in written form loses none of this tension. As I am considering it for an amateur theatre I pictured women as well as men in the role of each of the jurors. Reginald Rose portrays each character with individualism and the language used is vivid and filled with energy. The words jump off the page and by the time I had finished my knuckles were white. 
Although a somewhat unrealistic play, the journey the reader (and eventually the audience member) is taken on is exhilarating ride, that finds you questioning your decision making and asks what you would do put in Juror #8 situation.

Twelve Angry Men

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