The jury’s in, in Nehalem
By Ellis Conklin
It is 1957, a hot summer day in New York City. Dr. Seuss’s “Cat in the Hat” is soon to become that year’s best-seller. “Brigadoon” has crowds pouring into Broadway theaters. The Giants and Dodgers are playing their final season in the Big Apple. And, in a few months, the world will change forever when the Soviet Union launches Sputnik-1, the Earth’s first artificial satellite.
Meanwhile, on this sweltering late-afternoon, a gripping, suspenseful courtroom drama is unfolding inside a claustrophobic New York jury room, giving a startled audience a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how jury deliberations take place during a murder trial.
“12 Angry Men” was initially broadcast as a television play in 1954 and proved so popular that it was adapted for the stage. Three years later, acclaimed Hollywood director Sidney Lumet directed the well-received screen adaptation of “12 Angry Men,” starring Henry Fonda.
As the play opens, a 19-year-old, tenement-dwelling Hispanic man, has just gone through a six-day trial for the fatal stabbing of his father.
“He doesn’t stand a chance,” mutters the guard as the 12 jurors are led into a bleak, sweltering jury room. It looks like an open-and-shut case — until one of the jurors begins sowing seeds of reasonable doubt in the others’ eyes. Tempers flare, arguments grow heated, and the jurors, several of whom nearly come to blows, become 12 angry jurors.
At the outset of deliberations on this stifling summer afternoon, 11 voters deliver “guilty” verdicts, and only Juror No. 8 submits a verdict of “not guilty.” Masterfully played by Sue Neuer, she urges the others to rethink their position and to take their time doing so – this despite the pleas by impatient and clownish Juror No. 7, played by Jon Helzer, that he has tickets to see Damn Yankees on Broadway and wants this ordeal to end sooner than later.
But, argues Neuer, a young life of the accused is at stake, setting the stage for tense scenes that will keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the jury delivers its final verdict.
The rest of the jurors are played by Juli Stratton, Linda Ollson, Bryan Churchill, Bryonie Arnold, Ellis Conklin, Walter Mills, Jacob Merwin, Thomas Mattia and Mark Bartrom, joined by Linda Petersen as the bailiff.
In essence, this is a play about 12 people in charge of deciding, not the guilt or innocence of this young man, but only whether there is reasonable doubt.
If there is one underlying theme to “12 Angry Jurors” it might be that anything is possible. As Juror No. 9 wisely says: “It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly.”
Performances begin at 7 pm on Friday and Saturdays and 2 pm on Sundays from June 2 to June 18 at the North County Recreation District Performing Arts Center, located at 36155 9th Street, Nehalem.
Tickets are $20 and $25. For more information, go to RiverbendPlayers.org or call 855-444-6273.