By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Ellis High School Theatre will present “Twelve Angry Jurors,” a drama adapted from the screenplay by Reginald Rose in Nov. 13 and 14 at 7 p.m.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with an adult admission price of $5 and $3 for students.
The High School Drama Club will also be collecting donations for refreshments before and after the show.
The play has been made into several feature films over the years, most recently in 1997.
Play synopsis
A 19-year-old boy has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father in this three-act drama. “He doesn’t stand a chance,” mutters the guard as the twelve jurors are taken into the bleak jury room. It looks like an open-and-shut case—until one of the jurors begins opening the others’ eyes to the facts. “This is a remarkable thing about democracy,” says the foreign-born juror, “that we are notified by mail to come down to this place—and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man, of a man we have not known before. We have nothing to gain or lose by our verdict. We should not make it a personal thing.” But personal it does become, with each juror revealing his or her own character as the various testimonies are re-examined, the murder is re-enacted and a new murder threat is born before their own eyes! Tempers get short, arguments grow heated, and the jurors become twelve angry people. The jurors’ final verdict and how they reach it—in tense scenes that will electrify your audience and keep them on the edge of their seats—add up to an exceptional piece of dramatic literature.
Cast and Crew
Foreman (Juror #1): Aspen Younger
Juror #2: LeeAnn Wilson
Juror #3: Dawson Sproul
Juror #4: Paige Molstad
Juror #5: Blakely Bittel
Juror #6: Skylar Gottschalk
Juror #7: Dalton Hensley
Juror #8: Rylee Torline
Juror #9: Maddy Gnad
Juror #10: Drew Keller
Juror #11: Sierra Pfannenstiel
Juror #12: Kaylyn Foster
Judge: Haley Reiter
Clerk: Jaylinn Pfeifer
Guards: Brendon Brenner, Brevin LaBarge, Bryce Younger, Aiden Johnson
Director: Alyssa Dawson
Assistant Director: Sarah Staten
Stage Managers: Aiden Johnson, Natalie Schoenberger, Haley Reiter
Stage Crew – Shelby Werth, Sierra Schmidt, Jaylinn Pfeifer, Katie Milbourne