Steadstyle Chicago
	March 2010 Theatre Review by Alan Bresloff
	Twelve Angry Men Most of us fear one of the greatest rights that we are given, the right to serve on a jury; to be able to hear all the details of a trial and from what we observe to find the defendant either guilty or not guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt.  Why do we fear this right?  Because it takes us away from our daily routine and taxes our brains and hearts as we must take on a responsibility for someone who is unknown to us as a person.  Reginald Rose wrote a strong play, "Twelve Angry Men" dealing with a jury back in the late 1950's. Things are much different now than they were then and Raven Theatre has, in their new production brought this story a little closer to our current world.  While they have not really altered the words Rose wrote, Director Aaron Todd Douglas has cast the show with an interracial cast which does alter the inner meaning of some of the lines spoken.  While this in itself has no impact on the whole of the production, I was a little upset with the dialogue in the second act spoken by Juror #10 (Reginald Vaughn) as he puts down "those types" and "these people" in his tirade as to why the "boy has to be guilty".  It was a little strange to have an African American say these words and believe it. Other than this little reaction, I think Douglas has put together a splendid cast of characters to portray these twelve different men who are forced to leave their jobs and lives to be on a murder trial jury.  When they first enter the jury room, it appears that this will be a "slam-dunk" and each can say their farewells and head off into their previous lives.  But when they take the first vote, there is one lone "not-guilty" by Juror #8 (a strong performance by C.L.Brown) who is not convinced that he is guilty beyond all doubt.  From this point, each member of the jury takes part in discussions of why he is or isn't guilty and certain portions of the trial are dissected until each sees for himself what he needs to see.  Of course, in today's world most of what takes place in this room would never happen, but forensics was not like it is today over 50 years ago. The story explores individuals and how certain people form their prejudices and bias, both within races and between races and possibly nationalities as well.  We see how one man, who stands on his own can convince others that there is doubt in what they first thought was factual.  There are leaders and followers and there are people who just want to "go along with the crowd".  On our panel we have a guy (Juror #7 played by Eddie Diaz) who has tickets to the ball game and just wants to get out of the hot room they are in.  By the way, this is one of the hottest days of the year, a day with rain in the offing (high humidity) and no air conditioning, so none of the men are really happy.  Another juror is excited to have this right, he is new to the United Sates and comes from a country where such a right was never given.  Leonard Kraft truly shows off his craft in the handling of this critical character. We also have an older man, Juror #9 (deftly played by J.J. McCormick) the foreman (Kenneth Johnson), the nerd concerned about dinner if they go late (Steve Herson), the highly educated Juror #4 (Bryson Engelen skillfully makes this character a man of "no color"), the lonely man who takes the relationship between the alleged murderer and his victim on a personal level (the always powerful Dan Loftus nails this character), Dwight Sora as Juror #6, Ron Quade as Juror #12 and newcomer Fernando "MOJO" Albiar as Juror #5, a character who although not African American, is "of color" and also grew up in the conditions that the accused did.  This is a powerful new actor in town who I am sure we will see take on character roles. This is a well done production with a very realistic set design by Kelly Dailey, with the exception of the buildings outside the window.  The lighting by Christine Ferriter and sound by Rick Sims (who also wrote the background music) all add to the total picture, and the costumes by Sharlet Webb were pretty close to that period in accuracy.  All in all, I would have to say that this production lives up to the quality that we have learned to expect at The Raven and I strongly suggest that you put this one on your list of plays to see.  To watch how these characters alter their feelings and beliefs is to realize just how frail we are when it comes to what is argument and what is logic and where should we be when it comes to being right or wrong.  In fact one can ask where do we draw the line when it comes to "profiling" a person by what we think he or she is versus what they truly are? See for yourself through April 17, 2010 at The Raven located at 6157 N. Clark Street (at Granville).  Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $25-$30, well worth it, and can be purchased by calling 773-338-2177 or online at www.raventheatre.com.  There is limited free parking at the theater and street parking on both Granville and Clark and the theater is easy to get to via public transportation.     About Alan Bresloff Alan Bresloff, once an actor himself, has been covering the Chicago Theater Scene since 1993, first as the Theater and Arts critic for LaRaza newspaper, then with Salsachicago.com and then onto Extra Newspaper and The Epoch Times.  He also writes for ElImparcial and TeleGuia.  His reviews can also be seen on www.theatreinchicago.com.  Alan does not call himself a "critic" but a "reviewer" as he tries to educate the reader about theater itself, what is a good value, what to look for in a play or musical and more.  "Exposure to theater is a very important part of a young person's life" he says. "Learning about the arts and culture is in fact learning about life" and he tries to explain more in his reviews than just if it is good or bad.  Even some of the poor productions have some value, he often says and he would love your feedback on shows that you have seen.  You can write him here or at albresloff@sbcglobal.net.