USI Theatre presents courtroom drama, “Twelve Angry Jurors”

News Release: USI Theatre presents courtroom drama, “Twelve Angry Jurors” Evansville, Ind. (February 4, 2008) – USI Theatre presents Twelve Angry Jurors, a stage play based on the popular television movie, Twelve Angry Men, February 14 – 24, 2008, at the Mallette Studio Theatre on the University of Southern Indiana campus. Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men, was broadcast on CBS in 1954. Its success inspired an Oscar-nominated film adaptation with Henry Fonda in 1957. Since then, Twelve Angry Men has been adapted for the live stage by Sherman L. Sergel in a version that can be cast with both men and women. USI Theatre will produce Sergel’s version of the script, Twelve Angry Jurors. The play begins as a murder trial ends. A young black man stands accused of stabbing his father to death. As the jury starts deliberations, the ultimate verdict seems clear. Tensions run high when one woman expresses doubt that the accused man is guilty. The jurors struggle with each other and confront their own pre-conceptions about race and class to before arriving at a verdict. The USI Theatre production of Twelve Angry Jurors is directed by Elliot Wasserman, chair of USI’s Department of Performing Arts, and performed by USI students Jeremy Brailsford, Brandon Eck, Louis Gilliam, Gabriel Grady, Kristian Holmes, Anna Kysar, Joshua Lenn, Monica Muller, Sybil Robinson, Susan Ryan, Paige Scott, Josh Smith, and Rachel Ziegler. The design team for Twelve Angry Jurors includes USI faculty members Doug Hubbell as scenic designer, Shan Jensen as costume designer, and Craig A. Young as lighting designer. USI theatre student Dustin Williams serves as sound designer. Twelve Angry Jurors runs February 14 – 17 and February 20 - 24 in the Mallette Studio Theatre on the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center at USI. Performance times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m.. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8 for non-USI students and for seniors 60 and over, and $4 for USI students. Tickets may be purchased by calling the USI Theatre box office at 812-422-3970. Tickets may also be purchased at the door; the box office will open one hour before each performance.