‘Twelve Angry Men’

This year, from Nov.19-22, the Solon High School Drama Club will perform “Twelve Angry Men” for the fall play. “Twelve Angry Men” centers around 12 jury members arguing over the verdict in a murder trial. If the jurors find the accused (an inner city boy) guilty, the consequence is the death penalty. While the men argue, personal conflicts start to get in the way and questions begin to surface around certain elements of the case.

One of the major aspects of the fall play this year is its black box staging. Instead of having the audience in the seats of the auditorium, the audience will instead sit right on stage with the actors. According to director Kris Ferencie, the staging is much more immediate and intimate with the audience up close since it only holds 160 audience members.

“The black box theater takes away the separation between the actors and the audience,” Ferencie said. “Instead of being out in the blue seats with 12 feet of orchestra between the audience and the stage, suddenly everyone is up close and personal which makes a real difference in what [the audience] can see.”

On top of the closeness that black box theater brings to the audience and the actors, it also enables an audience member to fully feel involved in the play. Instead of sitting in the background and watching the scenes unfold, like an outsider looking in, the audience can now feel as though they are part of the story.

Production designer, Joe Ferencie, said that the hope of the black box staging is to have the audience feel as though they are in the jury room with the jurors and a part of the discussions that are happening during the trial.

“When the audience is three feet away from the actors, they will hopefully feel like a part of the play,” he said. “There are many uncomfortable topics that the play mentions, such as racism, and by allowing someone to distance themselves from it, you cannot think about it as much as when you are sitting right there and listening to someone spew hateful words.”

The intimacy between the actors and audience also leaves little room for error between the actors, according to President of the Solon High School Drama Club and cast member in the play, Olivia Roth.

“Performing so close to the audience does present new challenges,” Roth said. “There is very little margin for error. No matter where [I] go on stage, [I am] always under the microscope.”

In preparing to perform in a black box theater, the actors needed to rehearse many different aspects of their performance that are different from performing in a traditional proscenium theater.

Roth mentioned how the black box theater is very much like acting in a movie and presents a new challenge of becoming more natural while onstage.

“By bringing the audience so close, we are able to perform with a subtlety and intimacy not present in a proscenium (traditional) setting, but at the same time it’s important to remember that we need to be performing with a certain size because at any given time [my] back is turned to one third of the audience,” she said.

Despite the lack of space between the audience and the actors, Roth is excited to perform in a black box setting and believes that the audience will fully experience the play.

“Performing in front of an audience, especially one so close, is always intimidating,” she said. “However, it’s a privilege to do a show in a black box setting. The audience is able to feel as though they are the 13th jury member and will have a really unique experience.”

Show times for “Twelve Angry Men” are  Nov. 19-21 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. in the Solon High School auditorium and tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. Purchase tickets at solon.es/twelve.