Well, that's exactly what happened recently. The not-for-profit
organization Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) mounted an
outstanding production of this work by Reginald Rose, which originally
won critical
acclaim in 1957 as a film starring Henry Fonda and Lee J. Cobb. A
first-rate remake was released in 1997 featuring Jack Lemmon, George C.
Scott and Ossie Davis.
As the play begins, the seemingly open-and-shut murder trial has just
concluded, and the jury retires to decide the verdict. When they take a
vote, 11 men rule guilty, while 1 man - juror number 8 - doubts what
appears obvious to the others. Stressing the idea of "reasonable doubt,"
he slowly chips away at the rest of the jury - who represent a microcosm
of the prevailing white, male point of view - exposing the prejudices
and preconceptions that often influence jurors' snap judgments.
Katherine Vockins, who produced the play at Sing Sing, said that one
of the most interesting aspects of putting on this drama was the
exploration of the subject of 12 individuals deciding the life and death
fate of a young man of color. It resonated very deeply not only with the
performers as they delved into the mental and emotional perspectives of
the jurors but with the inmate audience.
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Sitting in the audience during performances she heard the men comment as
points were made. For instance, the other jurors ask juror number 8 why
he's inquiring into all these questions that the defense lawyer should
have asked. He says maybe the lawyer just wasn't good. He points out
that the attorney was court appointed and observes that maybe he didn't
want to take the case because he thought it didn't bring him money or
glory. Stated Vockins, "Of course for the men in the audience who had
public defenders, that resonated very strongly. The play says a lot
about things these men clearly knew because they've been there."
Peter Barbieri, Jr., the outside volunteer director, said that 12
Angry Men had been a challenging production to mount for several
reasons. For one thing, this is the first time in any of RTA's 12
productions that all of the actors were on stage the entire time. "You
don't have the chance to go off and rest or use the bathroom," he
commented. "You are on stage in character in relationship to all your
partners all the time. And if you aren't, it loses something."
Staging the play inside a prison facility also presented particular
difficulties. When rehearsing a production in which the roles of 12
actors are intricately interwoven and dependent on each other, you hope
that all of them can attend every rehearsal. But, explained Vockins,
there were lots of reasons why they couldn't. Sometimes the cast
members' jobs, which take priority over anything else, kept them away.
At other times they had visitors which also, needless to say, took a
priority.
"On top of that, there was the situation with our country and the
war," added Barbieri. "Every time an orange alert went into effect we
volunteers were not allowed in for a certain number of days. That
impacted on the directorial guidance. Fortunately, we had a wonderful
assistant director on the inside, a superb young man, Kelly Watts, who's
got great directorial potential."
The actors, however, managed to surmount the various challenges
admirably. Each of them established and maintained a very distinctive,
engaging character throughout, and the interaction between them really
crackled. The entire production was exceedingly engrossing.
Katherine Vockins also observed that this was a very bittersweet
production for them because Sing Sing's medium security section, Tappan,
is being closed for state budgetary reasons and all of the participants
housed in it are being transferred to other facilities. Medium security
men make up about two thirds of the participants in the RTA program.
Meanwhile, RTA men who have already been transferred have begun
requesting material to present to the Deputy of Programs at their new
facilities with the hope of starting a RTA program there. "On the one
hand it's a heartbreak to lose them," said Vockins, "but on the other,
what's happening is a seeding. The program is moving forward and growing
in a self-germinating way."
Hopefully, RTA will continue to do just that throughout New York
State’s correctional facilities, reaching more and more inmates with its
life-changing program. Since it's financed entirely by private
contributions, Rehabilitation Through the Arts seeks funding to expand
its experimental program. Any and all contributions are gratefully
accepted. Checks can be made out to Prison Communities International, 12
Huntville Road, Katonah, NY 10536, Attn: Katherine Vockins, Program
Director. PCI is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization. See its
website: www.p-c-i.org.
