介绍:
A Puerto Rican youth is on trial for murder, accused of knifing his father to death, and his fate rests in the hands of twelve strangers. The judge further informs them that a guilty verdict will be accompanied by a mandatory death sentence.
This is the start of the powerful and thought-provoking drama 12 Angry Men. Written by Reginald Rose, the film was released in 1957 starring legendary Hollywood actor Henry Fonda. The plotline revolves around a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt.
After almost sixty years, the story is still a classic and watched by people across North America. This summer, Beijing&`&s Charity Readers Theatre is bringing the story to China with a one-time stage performance.
The play is directed by Chris Verill.
"We chose to do this show because it blends well with the readers&`& theatre format. Our shows normally take three months to do, from auditions to closing night. This is a show in a week. This show is simple enough and powerful enough that it makes good theatre and theatre we could do well in a short amount of time."
The actors and actresses have only a week to prepare for the performance. According to lead actor Ray Robles, the time constraint has presented quite a few challenges for those involved in the production.
"The biggest one so far has been memorizing the lines and with acting, it&`&s about so much more than memorizing the lines. A lot of the times it&`&s about your character, developing that character. Not only are we pressed for time in memorizing the line but also in such a short time, being able to develop a character that I feel and I&`&m sure other actor feel is worthy to bring on stage."
Robles plays the pivotal Juror number 8, who is the only dissenting vote in a preliminary tally while the other jury members have already decided that the defendant was guilty without much discussion. In the film, the role was played by Henry Fonda, who was often touted as one of the best actors in Hollywood history. Although many see the character as the hero of the story, Robles has a different interpretation.
"I definitely didn&`&t come in here with a mentality that he&`&s a superhero type. Even from the beginning, he&`&s not 100 percent convinced that the boy is innocent. For me, I&`&m think that he&`&s an honest man who wants to do the best to find out whether this boy is guilty or not."
The cast is made up of actors with a wide-range of experiences. James Eckford is an English teacher from the U.K. and an amateur actor. He plays Juror 5 in the play.
"I saw the movie quite a few years ago and I actually use it as one of my lessons. I think it&`&s a really interesting piece of American literature. It&`&s very edgy for its time �C about prejudice and how people can easily come to conclusions based on how they see things.
Some of the characters have also been changed to adapt to modern society. For instance, instead of having an all-male cast, some of the jury members are played by women this time around.
Jodie Zhou plays Juror 2, who she describes as a wallflower.
"Jury number 2 is this agreeable person that superficially, she would agree to whatever came to her last. I think the way I want to interpret this character it although she is a wallflower, eventually, she wants to believe in whatever she believes in."
The play itself is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set. With the exception of a few scenes, almost the entire story takes place in the jury room. This could be challenging for in-depth character development, such as the hot-tempered Juror number 3 played by Gregory Joseph Allen.
"He&`&s as close as you can get to a major antagonist in this piece. He&`&s making decisions based on his own feelings instead of really looking at the objective facts. He&`&s a very opinionated individual."
According to the actor, however, his approach to playing the character changed since his audition.
"The first day I was in here, I was doing very much what I know from the movie. But then, I stepped back because it&`&s a different dynamic, a different situation. We&`&re not in that period. So now it&`&s just trying to find that middle ground between where the character is in me as oppose to the way that it was originally done and how do I bring who I am into the part."
Filled with intense drama, 12 Angry Men explores how our own prejudices and experience can shape our decision-making even in matters of life and death of a stranger.
The one-time performance of 12 Angry Men will debut on August 1 at Beijing&`&s 77th Theatre.
For Studio plus, I&`&m Doris Wang.
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