We did this show a couple years ago and it was really exciting. Many people told us they were surprised by how absorbed they became and that it wasn't boring. Even little kids said they loved it. We created a very small footprint for the jury room skewed on an angle. Then, we built fairly steep risers on three sides of the stage with the outer walls of the 50s jury room behind the on-stage audience, sort of including them in the room. On the two upstage corners cutting through the audience, we placed the entrance door and the bathroom, opposite, so actors walked through them to get to the table. There was just enough space around the long narrow table we built to maneuver. It created a very trapped feeling for the actors and they had to work hard to focus and stay fully in character with audience members so close. Spontaneously, coming back from intermission, I even offered audience members the option of moving seats to any empty seat in the room. Many of them moved so they could gain a fresh vantage point, which was a fun twist they weren't expecting.
During rehearsals, we did a few really important things: 1) We looked for as many plausible reasons for characters to get up, stretch, go the water cooler or the window, etc. 2) We worked very hard on adult mannerisms, of stripping away all teenage body language and vocal tone. And 3) we were constantly circling the table during rehearsals to get various angles, and tapping actors on the shoulder to indicate they should shift their weight, turn their face, etc. People do this naturally quite often and it is critical when you are working in the round so that no audience member looks at your back for long, and certainly not for a long piece of dialogue. Actors became used to this silent signal and after weeks of it, it became muscle memory.
I also pushed my actors to commit more and more to their roles, esp Jurors 3, 8, and 10. For Juror 10's meltdown, before every Act 2, I got with her for a moment and told her she needed to push harder into that border of losing control. So many exciting things happened. Chairs fell to the floor, people got right up in each other's faces, a few fists almost connected. Juror 8 even cut his hand on the switchblade one night (the wooded handle, not the blade), and kept going. Another juror went to the bathroom and casually got him a paper towel. It was awesome.
I could scare up some images or video for you if you like.
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Steven Slaughter
English/Theatre
Rosslyn Academy
Nairobi, Kenya
"Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts." - W Berry
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-21-2018 09:41
From: Stavroula Micheli
Subject: Ideas for 12 angry men
I teach in a secondary technical school and I'm into rehearsals for 12 angry men right now.I haven't found the best way of working on this show.There's more conversation than action and it's difficult to remember every word! I've got an idea about the performance, something like an "open rehearsal" on the stage.The students will be reading and acting every scene.
All ideas are welcome!
Stavroula Micheli
Mathematician
EPAL Xylokastrou
Greece
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Stavroula Micheli
Piraeus
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