Wednesday evening’s premiere performance was a textbook demonstration of taut, lean, intense drama that never lost its focus, thanks to Morgan’s judicious, no-frills direction, and an airtight cast that addressed the material with fervent conviction. Shrewdly discarding an intermission, seldom have 90 minutes flown by with such gripping, unmitigated momentum. Perhaps because of Tuesday’s snowstorm, there were far too few people in attendance at the aptly intimate McDonough Ballroom, but those who braved the day-after dig-out were treated to sublimely provocative theater.

The premise of the play is deceivingly straightforward. Twelve jurors must decide if a 19-year-old Hispanic man is guilty or innocent of stabbing his father to death. Eleven of the jurors, eager to get back to their everyday lives, are in favor of a guilty verdict.

Juror 8 (Nick Wakely), however, is the lone dissenter. He isn’t convinced that the young man is guilty, and argues his case for “reasonable doubt.” His most contentious counterpart is Juror 3 (Bruce Robert-Serafin), who isn’t swayed in the least by Juror 8′s recounting of the testimony during the trial.

An elderly witness claims he heard a body fall to the floor, over the deafening roar of a passing train, and ran to his apartment door and down the hallway in 15 seconds, to see the young man running from the building. When Juror 8 argues, by demonstration, that the old man, who uses a cane, couldn’t possibly have made it to the door and down the hallway in less than 42 seconds, it raises doubts in a few, but fails to convince those already hardened in their lives by prejudice, and personal grievances that come to light.
As Juror 8 continues to chip away at the resistance of his fellow jurors to look closer at the dubious evidence, including the proper use of a switchblade, the tensions become as thick and heated as the hot and humid weather that engulfs the jury room.

Since each actor in the play is given only a number, it’s reliant on the cast to rise above numerical anonymity and portray these jurors with distinctive personality. They do, each and every one. Wakely’s Juror 8 is the moral compass of the play, and he handles the role with impressive, sharply modulated, righteous determination. Robert-Serafin imparts Juror 3 with a simmering disgust that you know can erupt at any moment, and it does, in a scene of harrowing confrontation that nearly comes to blows. He also concludes this seething drama with a moment of shattering emotional catharsis.

​Gail Riva White merits our empathy as Juror 1, the peacekeeper consigned to leading this disparate group to a verdict. Mirabelle Flint imbues Juror 2 with an airy charm, questioning how a young man who is 5 feet 8 inches tall could inflict a downward thrust with his knife on his 6-foot-2-inch father. Kelly Stowell is a standout as Southern-accented Juror 4, who may agree with Juror 3, but voices her skepticism in a far more courteous manner, questioning the boy’s alibi that he was at a movie with his friends, when he can’t even remember the name of the movie.

Juror 5 (Stephanie Bisono, giving a subtly defensive, sultry performance) shows off her street smarts by showing how a shorter person would thrust upward with a knife into a taller person. Because she’s Hispanic, she becomes an unwitting collateral target of the frightening, hateful racial slurs of Juror 10 (a terrifically volatile John Ardini), who disgusts everyone into receding into the corners of the jury room, by shouting that everyone from the ghetto is an animal who can’t be trusted. It’s at times like this that “12 Angry Jurors” feels ripped from today’s headlines.

Jim Douglas’s dignified, eloquent turn as Juror 9 sadly points out the way the elderly are shunted aside in a world that worships the young. Perhaps most alarmingly relevant of all is the prevalent immigrant bias embodied in the graceful, thoughtful performance of Majdi Ammari as Juror 11, who ponders the logic of the boy running from the scene of the crime before wiping his fingerprints, then returning three hours later to remove the knife from his father’s chest. Gary Galone delivers a wonderfully twitchy, impatient turn as Juror 7, who wants to get a verdict in as quickly as possible so he can attend a Rangers-Bruins hockey game. Angela Renzi (Juror 6) and Matt Cogswell (Juror 12) round out a strong cast that keeps one fully invested in the outcome.

Scenic designer Dylan Joyce has created a Spartan set that is as lean and unfettered as Morgan’s directorial choices, with 12 jury chairs that look like uncomfortable cement blocks encircling a jury table populated with pads and pens. The verdict on this production is unanimous. Superb.

After the March 17 show, Blackstone Cuil will perform for the audience, cast and crew to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The music is free with admission to the show.

4th Wall, FSU, Hanover pool resources for ’12 Angry Jurors​
By Richard Duckett 
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Mar 12, 2017 at 1:08 PMUpdated Mar 12, 2017 at 1:08 PM

WORCESTER — The verdict is in.

The 4th Wall Stage Co., in association with The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Fitchburg State University and Quinsigamond Community College, all have their say in a unique collaborative production of “12 Angry Jurors” opening March 15 in the new McDonough Room at The Hanover Theatre Event Center.

“12 Angry Jurors,” a gender-neutral version of Reginald Rose’s “12 Angry Men,” is as powerful and relevant today as when the highly charged jury-room drama was first seen in the 1950s, said Kelly Morgan, professor of theater at Fitchburg State University, who is directing the 4th Wall Stage production

“It’s a really wonderful piece that’s just so current,” he said.

Rose’s “12 Angry Men” was first seen as a live TV production on CBS in 1954, the same year as the notorious McCarthy hearings angrily played out. A stage version was written by Rose in 1955 (the first of several), and in 1957 “12 Angry Men” was a successful movie with a cast that included Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb.

The 12 jurors, who have numbers in the play and not names, must decide if a young Hispanic man is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. A guilty verdict will draw the death penalty. They start with a vote, with eleven of the jurors casting for guilty and just Juror No. 8 (Fonda in the movie) going for “not guilty.” As Juror 8 explains why the testimony does leave reasonable doubt, the tide of opinion in the jury room begins to turn, but so do emotions as Juror 3 is steadfast that the defendant is guilty. As the arguments intensify we see each of the juror’s prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, immigration, the criminal justice system, the accused and each other.

As the title change would suggest, “12 Angry Jurors” has women in the jury as well as men — in the case of the 4th Wall production, seven men and five women.

The presence of women lends an interesting perspective, said Barbara Guertin, the show’s producer. “The difference is amazing. It just adds a new way of looking at things.”

Beyond that, however, Morgan said any changes to the script are subtle and minimal.

“The script still has a powerful message,” he said. If we’re asking about immigration these days, “so does the play.” Inner-city slums? “So does the play.” Is the criminal justice system broken? “So does the play.

“The play still speaks to us. It’s sad that it does, but history repeats itself until we get it right,” Morgan said.

The collaborative aspect of the production itself is right along the lines of what Guertin, 4th Wall managing director, has been looking to achieve.

“From my perspective it’s what I’ve been hoping would happen for Worcester theater,” Guertin said.

Guertin and Morgan have a theater association that goes back to when they were founders of the Mint Theater in New York City in the 1990s. Different paths took them to this area and they stayed in touch. Guertin acted at the former Foothills Theatre and founded American Classic Theater, which merged with 4th Wall in 2013. 4th Wall has become recognized for living up to its stated mission to “present live stage theatrical presentations which inspire, challenge and entertain both our artists and audiences.”

Guertin has had a connection with FSU that includes bringing in interns for 4th Wall productions.

Morgan, who is also an actor, has been with FSU since 1997 and directed a production of “12 Angry Jurors” there last fall. This semester he is on a sabbatical and he and Guertin began discussing putting on the play with 4th Wall.

Morgan has also been involved with helping develop a new theater program at Quinsigamond Community College. The 4th Wall production of “12 Angry Jurors” will employ the set that was at FSU, and then the set will go to QCC where the college will stage its “12 Angry Jurors” later this semester. The QCC production will be directed by Nick Wakely, who is playing Juror 8 in the 4th Wall show.

The 4th Wall cast comprises Gail Riva White (Juror 1/foreman), Mirabelle Flint (Juror 2), Bruce Robert Serafin (Juror 3), Kelly Stowell (Juror 4), Stephanie Bisono (Juror 5), Angela Renzi (Juror 6), Gary Galone (Juror 7), Nick Wakely (Juror 8), Jim Douglas (Juror 9), John Ardini (Juror 10), Majdi Ammari (Juror 11), Matt Cogswell (Juror 12) and Charles Baxter (Guard).

Bisono, Flint and Renzi are FSU students, and Ardini and Stowell are alumni. Among the actors that are Equity union/SAG members are Galone and Serafin.

Students are also involved with the production behind the scenes. Meanwhile, 4th Wall and The Hanover Theatre have worked together before. “12 Angry Jurors” will run for nine shows in the new space at The Hanover Theatre Event Center, which can seat 150-175 and allow for an intimate production

“We have a lot of moving parts. I’m all about collaboration” Guertin said. That also includes an English class at Burncoat Senior High School that has been studying the play attending the final rehearsal.

“It’s really grown, it’s like a consortium,” Morgan said of the production.

“12 Angry Jurors” is an appropriate play for such a collaboration, Guertin said. Local lawyers have expressed their enthusiasm about the project and its reiteration of how due process works, she said.

“Especially with the political climate, I’m truly finding myself watching the news much more than I have in years past,” Guertin said

The play “holds a mirror to the nature of our political climate,” Morgan said. “Twelve people that are deliberating, when you see the show you can see people that you know.”

​Contact Richard Duckett at richard.duckett@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @TGRDuckett