Sunday 13 April 2014

Book Review: Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose

Twelve Angry MenTwelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been considering directing a project for my local amateur theatre and narrowed it down to Twelve Angry Men and 'The History Boys'. I'd seen the film for the former and only knew it was a play because it was recently performed in Birmingham with Martin Shaw and Robert Vaughn.
When I'd first seen the film, my main thought was the tension. Not a lot physically happens and it's very dialogue heavy, but I was hooked from the minute the twelve men entered the jury room to the minute they exited.
The play in written form loses none of this tension. As I am considering it for an amateur theatre I pictured women as well as men in the role of each of the jurors. Reginald Rose portrays each character with individualism and the language used is vivid and filled with energy. The words jump off the page and by the time I had finished my knuckles were white.
Although a somewhat unrealistic play, the journey the reader (and eventually the audience member) is taken on is exhilarating ride, that finds you questioning your decision making and asks what you would do put in Juror #8 situation.

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