WC Actors Exited For 12 Angry Jurors

WC Drama is ready to roll for their winter play!  WC has decided to perform 12 Angry Jurors.  The play features plenty of experienced senior talents, including Jason Boucouras and Aaron Hamilton, who starred in the fall play, God’s Favorite.  The play also features new freshman faces including Ryan Becker and Josh Lozier, who put on a great performance in God’s Favorite as well.

     Twelve Angry Jurors is a play by Reginald Rose adapted from his 1954 teleplay that aired on CBS.  Later, a feature film was made for it in 1957. The play's Broadway debut came 50 years later, and was extremely popular. The drama is about a jury forced to consider a homicide trial. This dramatic production gets interesting quick.  The jurors discriminate and fight, but one juror convinces the others that this case is a little more challenging than they thought.
            First I sat down with Josh Lozier.  He plays Juror number three, and he likes this role because he can relate to the character.  Juror number three likes to be loud, and is also very outspoken in his opinions.  Lozier is super exited for the play because he loves the “heavy, suspenseful, tense, and sometimes violent mood that is constantly a part of the dialogue.”  He also feels that this play is a good fit for WC because everyone is on stage all the time, so it's a perfect opportunity for people new to the theater experience to get involved.  I even asked him about the upperclassmen, and their influence on his acting.  “Working with experienced seniors is a lot of fun because they can show you the ropes, and also give you great advice, and everyone acts like one big family, so your friendships grow pretty strong, too. Sometimes it is challenging, because you feel like they are superior to you, which undermines your confidence, but everything turns out fine.”
            The cast members were definitely very hard at work when I dropped by during practice after school.  Mr. O’Roark was hard at work trying to get lines perfect and create the suspenseful mood that Josh was talking about.  I was surprised at how attentive the cast was.  Mr. O’Roark had their complete attention and they were taking note of everything that he said.  The cast this year is extremely committed, even though they don’t have the most experience.  “It is a unique play, and I wanted a chance to cast a lot of people who are not normally cast in plays,” Mr. O’Roark said. 

I also got to talk to Jason Boucouras.  He plays Juror number 7, a character who jokes around, but is serious at the same time.  Jason told me that he always prepares by memorizing and making sure he is ready to present his talent on show night.  I then asked him why the audience would enjoy it. “It is very different from a lot of plays that you see from the theatre department, and brings a different flavor to the table.”
The play starts on Thursday, February 7^th and is showing on Friday and Saturday as well.  12 Angry Jurors is going to be a huge success.  The audience is going to feel the intense emotion that this courtroom scene has to offer, and the nice blend of talents will really make this play a memorable one.

By Scott Hevel