[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of The Group Rep‘s, Twelve Angry Jurors, based on the Emmy Award-winning television movie by Reginald Rose, adapted by Sherman L. Sergel, directed by Tom Lazarus, produced for The Group Rep by Stevie Ster and running through March 3.
The Group Rep (GRT) hits it out of the park yet again with their thrilling, nerve-wracking and highly entertaining production of the American classic Twelve Angry Jurors, An adaptation of the Emmy Award-winning TV movie Twelve Angry Men, the play is about a young man on trial for the murder of his abusive father.
Set in the jurors’ room post trial, the play opens with the jurors taking a vote on the verdict, to see if they could all go home early. But, although the evidence seems overwhelming there is one juror who is not convinced of the young man’s guilt and pressures the rest of the jurors to take their time and examine the evidence…all of which is based on dodgy circumstances and the need for the police to catch a suspect quickly.
Within a few minutes, this one juror throws doubt into the minds of several of the others. There is anger, frustration and a million chips on several shoulders, all swaying hearts and minds. Tense exchanges illustrate the profound divides between these men and women of the jury. Though we never see the accused, it’s clear that evidence can be twisted, prejudices hidden and, in the end, all we can rely on is our humanity and the struggles we all have with the need to be heard, to be justified and believed.
Twelve Angry Jurors is a stunning journey through our flaws.
It’s clearer than ever that an eyewitness can be the least reliable piece of evidence and yet how much we all want to deny that fact or even face it as a possibility. Especially given how it is still relied upon as a means to convict.
You will be on the edge of your seat! Every actor delivers compelling, believable characters, all gorgeously full of flaws and on their own unique journeys.
As they wrestle with the truth and what they must recognize as their own doubts about it, we can almost see their minds switch from one moment to the next. It’s a singularly fascinating story. No subtext, no multiple storylines, just one purposeful and slow-moving unraveling…
The set is brilliant as usual, the stage set as if through a camera lens, like a frame from the original 35 mm print. In sepia, the heat of the day radiating off the stage, every second focused on the only conclusion possible for a reasonable mind to make.
Bravo GRT!!!! Loved it!
Tickets:
When:
January 26 — March 3
Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm.
Where:
The Group Rep at Lonny Chapman Theatre
10900 Burbank Blvd. NoHo Arts District, CA 91601
The Cast
The Group Rep cast features the talents of Linda Alznauer (Juror 4), Jane Bonem (Guard), Paul Cady (Juror 2), Belinda Howell (Juror 10), Stephanie T. Keefer (Juror 11), Stan Mazin (Juror 9), Bob McCollum (Judge), Richard Reich (Juror 7), Mark Stancato (Juror 3), Melissa Strauss (Juror 1), Neil Thompson (Juror 8), Cathy Diane Tomlin (Juror 6), Mouchette van Helsdingen (Juror 12), Tamir Yardenne (Juror 5) and Tilly Ye (Juror 6 – Feb. 16 – 18).
The Team
The GRT production team includes Tom Lazarus (Set Design), Frank McKown (Lighting Design), Shon LeBlanc (Costume Design), Steve Shaw (Sound Design), Kristin Stancato (Stage Manager; Webmaster & Online Marketing), Denise Downer (Marketing), Nora Feldman (Public Relations), Doug Haverty (Graphic Design), Doug Engalla (Promotional Video & Photography), Jackie Hearn (Social Media), and is produced for The Group Rep by Stevie Stern.