Twelve Angry Men

A blistering character study and an examination of the American melting pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check, Twelve Angry Men holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliber ately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture of them and of america, at its best and worst to form. After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this land mark american drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway.