On Thursday 5th and Friday 6th May, the Unit 3 Theatre Studies class presented their production of “Twelve Angry Men” by Reginald Rose to family and friends. 

Set in a jury room in New York in the 1950s, the play is about a jury of 12 men who have to deliberate on the conviction or acquittal of an 18-year old young man on the basis of reasonable doubt, forcing the jurors to question their morals and values.

For this area of study, students focus on developing skills that can be applied to the interpretation of a script for performance to an audience. They work collaboratively, creatively and imaginatively to contribute to the production of the play. 

Students are required to work in two production roles across all stages of the production process. The production roles students can choose from are acting, directing, set design, costume design, lighting design, props design, make-up design and sound design. They take on every aspect of the production process from planning through development to presentation. 

This year,  students chose to perform their play in the L1 Drama/Dance studio and configured the audience ‘in-the-round’, which made for a very close performance. The aim of this was to make the audience feel as though they were in the room with jurors, weighing the evidence and considering the guilt or innocence of the boy. 

Unfortunately, at the start of the performance week, one student developed COVID and was unable to perform. After the first show, a second student developed the flu and was also unable to perform on the second night. Thanks to Ms Birrell and Mr Ganesan for stepping in and playing the roles needed. 

Unit 3 Theatre Studies class