EDUCATION
STUDY GUIDE
Study Guide Contents 3.)
Production Information
4.) Introduction 5.)
Letter from Community Engagement and Education Team
6.)
Educational Outreach at Syracuse Stage
7.)
About the Playwright
8.)
Meet the Director
10.)
About the Play
11.)
Characters
12.)
The Juror Room
13.)
NYC in the 50s
14.)
Film Adaptation
15.)
Top 10 Court Room Dramas
16.)
But There Were Eyewitnesses!
17.) Glossary
2
|
18.)
Questions for Discussion
19.)
Elements of Drama
20.)
Elements of Design
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
Director of Community Engagement & Education Joann Yarrow (315) 443-8603
Associate Director of Education Kate Laissle (315) 442-7755
Community Engagement & Education Assistant MiKayla Hawkinson (315) 443-1150
Group Sales & Student Matinees Tracey White (315) 443-9844
Box Office (315) 443-3275
Designed by MiKayla Hawkinson
PRESENTING SPONSOR
SPONSOR
PRESENTS
MEDIA SPONSORS
BY
Reginald Rose SEASON SPONSORS
DIRECTED BY
James Still SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGNER
LIGHTING DESIGNER
SOUND DESIGNER
Junghyun Georgia Lee
Michelle Habeck
Todd Mack Reischman
PRODUCTION D R A M AT U R G
S TA G E M A N A G E R
CASTING
Richard J Roberts
Stuart Plymesser*
Claire Simon CSA
Robert Hupp
Jill A. Anderson
Kyle Bass
Artistic Director
Managing Director
Associate Artistic Director
CO-PRODUCED WITH
Indiana Repertory Theatre Janet Allen
Suzanne Sweeney
Executive Artistic Director
Managing Director
Twelve Angry Men is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. October 9 - 27, 2019 *Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 3
Welcome!
As you take your students on the exciting journey into the world of live theatre, we hope that you’ll take a moment to help prepare them to make the most of their experience. Unlike movies or television, live theatre offers the thrill of unpredictability. With the actors present on stage, the audience response becomes an integral part of the performance and the overall experience: the more involved and attentive the audience, the better the show. Please remind your students that they play an important part in the success of the performance. * Approximate runtime of the show is 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.
4
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
A FEW REMINDERS...
audience etiquette BE PROMPT Give your students plenty of time to arrive, find their seats, and get situated. Have them visit the restrooms before the show begins. RESPECT OTHERS Please remind your students that their behavior and responses affect the quality of the performance and the enjoyment of the production for the entire audience. Live theatre means the actors and the audience are in the same room, and just as the audience can see and hear the performers, the performers can see and hear the audience. Please ask your students to avoid disturbing those around them. Please no talking or unnecessary or disruptive movement during the performance. Also, please remind students that cell phones should be switched off completely. No texting or tweeting, please. When students give their full attention to the action on the stage, they will be rewarded with the best performance possible. GOOD NOISE, BAD NOISE Instead of instructing students to remain totally silent, please discuss the difference between appropriate responses (laughter, applause, participation when requested) and inappropriate noise (talking, cell phones, etc). STAY WITH US Please do not leave or allow students to leave during the performance except in absolute emergencies. Again, reminding them to use the restrooms before the performance will help eliminate unnecessary disruption.
Dear Educator, The best way of learning is learning while you’re having fun. When you hear something you can forget it, but when you see something it stays with you forever. Live theatre provides the opportunity for us to connect with more than just our own story, it allows us to find ourselves in other people’s lives and grow beyond our own boundaries. We’re the only species on the planet who makes stories. It is the stories that we leave behind that define us. Giving students the power to watch stories and create their own is part of our lasting impact on the world. We invite you and your students to engage with the stories we tell as a starting point for you and them to create their own. Sincerely, Joann Yarrow, Kate Laissle, and MiKayla Hawkinson Community Engagement and Education
2019/2020 EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH SPONSORS Syracuse Stage is committed to providing students with rich theatre experiences that explore and examine what it is to be human. Research shows that children who participate in or are exposed to the arts show higher academic achievement, stronger self-esteem, and improved ability to plan and work toward a future goal. Many students in our community have their first taste of live theatre through Syracuse Stage’s outreach programs. Last season more than 15,500 students from across New York State attended or participated in the Bank of America Children’s Tour, artsEmerging, the Young Playwrights Festival, Backstory, Young Adult Council, and/or our Student Matinee Program. We gratefully acknowledge the corporations and foundations who support our commitment to in-depth arts education for our community.
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 5
Educational Outreach at Syracuse Stage Children’s Tour
Backstory
Each fall, the Bank of America Children’s Tour brings high-energy, interactive, and culturally diverse performances to elementary school audiences. Each performance is fully staged with scenery, costumes, and sound. You need only provide the stage, cafeteria, classroom, or any open space. Performances include a talkback with the actors and our helpful study guide for further classroom exploration. Pre- or postshow sessions with our talented teaching artists can be arranged upon request.
Each winter, the Backstory program brings history to life as professional actors portray historical figures in classrooms and other venues. Previous presentations have included historical figures such as Anne Frank; Ace, a Tuskegee Airman; and Annie Easley a human computer for NASA.
YAC: Young Adult Council
Each spring, Syracuse Stage invites Central New York high school students to write original ten-minute plays and other performance pieces for entry in our annual Young Playwrights Festival contest. Our panel of theatrical and literary professionals evaluates each student’s play. Semifinalists are invited to a writing workshop at Syracuse Stage where their plays will be read and critiqued. Finalists will see their plays performed as staged readings by Syracuse University Department of Drama students at the annual Young Playwrights Festival. The festival is free and open to the public. The 2019 season was our largest year to date with 365 entries.
THE YOUNG ADULT COUNCIL (YAC) at Syracuse Stage seeks to give teens a voice in the programming designed for them while exploring how theatre impacts their lives. The program focuses on peer led discussion and events in addition to advocating for theatre and arts participation to fellow students. The Syracuse Stage Young Adult Council (YAC) is a group of high school students from the Central New York area that meets bi-monthly to create and implement preshow events that will help inspire the next generation of theatregoers. YAC members can also take advantage of opportunities to learn from professional theatre artists at Syracuse Stage and through workshops, internships, and shadow programs.
Professional Development: Evening Teacher Workshops Professional Development classes for theatre teachers and community members covering a variety of theatre topics and taught by Syracuse Stage professionals. These workshops are designed to increase the
6
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
Young Playwrights Festival
Summer Youth Theatre Experience Come and play with professional teaching artists of Syracuse Stage as we dive into the magical world of creativity and performance. This four-week program for middle school students is presented in collaboration with SALTspace & the Near Westside Initiative.
About the Playwright Reginald Rose 1920- 2002
Plays by Reginal Rose The Porcelain Year (1950) The stage version of Twelve Angry Men (1955) Black Monday (1962) Dear Friends (1968) This Agony, This Triumph (1972).
Reginald Rose came of age as a writer during the early 1950s, sometimes called the Golden Age of Television, when teleplays were broadcast live and drama on the small screen most resembled the theater experience. He penned many scripts for the landmark series “Westinghouse Studio One”, including “Bus to Nowhere” in 1950 and “12 Angry Men” in 1954. As inspiration for “12 Angry Men”, Rose later cited his time serving on a jury. He recalled, “It was such an impressive, solemn setting in a great big woodenpaneled courtroom, with a silver-haired judge, it knocked me out. I was overwhelmed. I was on the jury for a manslaughter case, and we got into this terrific, furious, eight-hour argument in the jury room. I was writing one-hour dramas for Studio One then, and I thought, wow, what a setting for a drama.” The original broadcast won Emmy Awards for Rose, actor Robert Cummings, and director Franklin Schaeffer. For CBS, Rose created “The Defenders”, based on a teleplay he had written for Studio One. The show, which ran from 1961 through 1965, was a relatively gritty and realistic look at a father and son team of lawyers defending difficult cases with social implications. In 1963 “The Twilight Zone” broadcast his “The Incredible World of Horace Ford” also adapted from a script originally written for Studio One.
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 7
Meet the Director James Still An interview by Joseph Whelan
James Still has been the playwright-in-residence at Indiana Repertory Theatre for 22 years. His plays include the trilogy The Jack Plays, The Heavens are Hung in Black, I Love to Eat, and Looking Over the President’s Shoulder. Still is also an accomplished director and directed the Syracuse Stage/IRT co-production of Twelve Angry Men.
JW: Twelve Angry Men dates from the 1950s. Why does it hold up so well? JS: The play is deceptively masterful in its ability to capture 12 individual points of view that are often at odds with one another. I’m very interested in the way it explores how alliances shift and change, and how people use one another to further their own points of view, and how they feel betrayed when votes change. It’s about 12 people who are forced into a very hard conversation because they are obligated by civic duty. In many ways the play is eerily prescient in the conflicts it lays bare.
8
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
JW: How would you say that resonates with us today? JS: The play deals unflinchingly in issues of power, privilege, class, racism and prejudice — all things that continue to haunt and divide us in the 21st century. The jurors in the play are forced into a dialogue, and I hope whatever political allegiance people hold in 2019, they could agree with me that we need more dialogue today. So watching 12 people with the stakes so high—someone’s life is at stake—watching them work through biases and personal histories and snap judgments, and in some cases discomfort with the role they’ve been asked to play as decision makers, watching them work through all of that models a process that might be potentially instructive today.
JW: In what way instructive?
JW: How will you explore that dynamic in rehearsal?
JS: Because it addresses the nature of compromise. What IS compromise? How do you compromise? How do you compromise and feel ethically good about it, feel that you’ve done the right thing. For me the play is so much about point of view and shifting point of view. The play gives an audience access to multiple points of view at a time when I feel like we’re faced with the danger of being told that there is only one right or correct point of view, a monolithic point of view. In addition, the play is built on intense, active listening — the 12 jurors are ultimately changed by what they hear in that jury room.
JS: As a director I am very story driven. That might seem obvious about directing, but this is where my work as a writer is undeniable in my process as a director. Story, story, story. What’s the story of every moment, every silence, every glance, every relationship in the play. My conversations with actors are always about story. How we will illuminate the interplay among the characters is about the chemistry of the actors. How they create with one another and what personally are their triggers and their passions. The play requires us to dig deeply into issues of values, ethics, politics, and personal responsibility. The circumstances demand that we have these conversations in rehearsal. I will have to be on the edge of my seat and do some deep listening. It’s a privileged position to be in a room with 12 wonderful actors. Wonderful things can happen, wonderful things will happen.
JW: Not long ago Charles Blow had a column in The New York Times in which he observes that denying racism is racism. Do you think that’s present in the play in the way some characters are reticent about expressing their views? JW: What do you find interesting about the play? JS: I absolutely agree with the quote and I fully intend to explore that. I think that is one of the things that the play cares about. To the play’s credit, it does name it. I think it is important for us to experience that, and this is one of the things we can do in the theatre. We watch the process happening right in front of us. We offer that experience to the audience and it is different than reading an op-ed about it, or even reading or listening to a personal testimony about it. We experience it, inescapably, right in front of us. While some of the jurors haven’t thought about it (and wouldn’t consider themselves racist anyway), we’re watching people forced to wrestle with the subject. This may be the deepest wrestling they have done. And, I think for us watching it, watching how some of the characters don’t speak up, we can empathize with it or object to it, whatever our responses may be, but it allows us to ask ourselves, what would I do in that situation? What should I be doing now in my own situation? I also think this is where the play’s 1957 setting offers a lens in which we can both reflect on the past and look at ourselves in the present.
JS: I’m very intrigued . . . it took only one of these guys to change what looked to eleven of them like an open and shut case. It’s a conceit of the play, that one person can have profound impact. At first, it seems obvious and indisputable and then one guy raises the question of doubt, a reasonable doubt, and slowly and messily it starts to chip away at people’s confidence. Also, these people are strangers to each other. We never learn their names. Anonymity is part of the story. We don’t learn a lot about them other than their jobs. We know very little about their families. They were brought together to do this one thing. Not to get to know each other. They share one thing: responsibility to come up with a verdict. Twelve people who are strangers to each other, locked in a room together. The play is about what happens around that table. That’s the story. I love the intensity of it, the relentlessness, the opportunity for actors and audience to dig into the story. Ultimately I’m drawn to the play because of what’s both familiar and troubling about it. It’s in that overlap that the play lives — and that’s what I’m most intrigued about exploring.
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 9
About the play Synopsis
1957. A teen-ager is accused of murdering his father. His fate rests with twelve jurors. “He doesn’t stand a chance,” mutters the courtroom guard. As the jurors deliberate, the impulse to quickly convict is thwarted by one holdout, who insists on a close evaluation of the evidence. Slowly, without hectoring rhetoric or even firm belief in the youth’s innocence, he argues the case for further questioning. Then gradually and in different ways, other jurors begin to change their minds, a development that fuels simmering tension and threatens volatile confrontation. Prejudices, passions, and human failings collide in a search for truth as a young man’s life hangs in the balance. A taut and absorbing drama as compelling now as when it was written.
Reginald Rose wrote several stage adaptations of his original teleplay from 1954. Some productions include women as some of the jurors, and the play is sometimes called 12 Angry Jurors or 12 Angry People. Historically, although women did serve on juries in New York State in the 1950s, women did not serve on juries in all fifty states until 1973. Now productions often use a racially diverse cast for its jurors. Indeed, African Americans did serve on juries in New York State from the late 1800s. For Syracuse Stage, however, director James Still has cast the play as it would have been at the time of its original production, with all the jurors played by white men who have the power to decide the fate of a young man who is one of “those people.”
10
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
Characters Juror One is the jury foreman. He takes the responsibility of that job seriously. He is also a high school assistant football coach. Juror Two is at first easily swayed by other more dominant members of the jury. Juror Three is the strongest voice for a guilty verdict. He is a bully who is used to getting his own way. He runs a messenger service. Juror Four, a wealthy man, is a rational and analytical person. He is a stockbroker. Juror Five grew up in the same type of slum neighborhood as the defendant. He is a nurse in a Harlem hospital. Juror Six listens to opinions before making up his mind. He is a house painter. Juror Sevenis an impatient wise-cracking salesman. He is a Yankees fan. Juror Eight looks at all sides of a situation. Early on, he is a dissenter against a quick guilty vote. He is an architect. Juror Nine is an old man who has largely been defeated by life. Juror Ten is loud and bigoted. He runs a garage. Juror Eleven is a watchmaker, a refugee from Europe.He speaks with an accent. He strongly believes in American ideals.
Juror Twelve is a shallow advertising man. The Guard takes care of the jury’s needs. Judge- we hear his voice but we never see him. 12 Angry Men film adaptation 1957 SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 11
The Juror Room DESIGNER NOTES
JUNGHYUN GEORGIA LEE | SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGNER The design for Twelve Angry Men started with a basic question: what do we want to see the most in this play? It is clearly the story that unfolds around the table and the exchanges among the 12 different characters. We want to look at the discussion and the clashes from different perspectives and give every character an opportunity to be shown and heard from every angle, up close. I started with the table, then built around that the world of the jury room inside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan. The clothes came naturally after studying the characters. These 12 men come from different paths of life. We never learn their names. But the play provides me with a full story for each man, their daily lives and the choices they make. What surprises me most is that I understand even the most biased characters in the play. It is an amazing opportunity to create both scenery and costumes for this American classic. I hope the designs elevate the story as much as the play inspires me. -courtesy of Indiana Repertory Theatre
12
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
New York City in the 50’s
of
n t ti tio firs c du e ro r th p fo e’s in ged h c ta lan is s llet a B r” Ba ge cke ity r o ra C Ge utc ork 4 5 N Y 19 he ew “T e N th
m
t en ns an atio rm N pe ted e th ni e eU m ca th be for YC rs N arte 1 u 5 19 adq e h
Ride the subway for 15 cents
e
at
an ue ric era f ag e A p l r st O fir tan ajo rk e i m o th ol ;a wY s es trop e m rie N co Me se en ers e y um e e g b h se ight wa etw od u on at t b s D u b M r r W s s hip lyn de rm m t i i n e oyd s ok A erfo h d n l l n o o n he pi Br ia p ge k L e ar o ug ran enu YC ham the M an t rk G v F N c d 56 ic o he by th A 56 ball s an T f 19 mer w Y 9 i d 1 se ee F 59 e A Ne ba nk 19 sign s on a in e Y d en op
Cost of a baseball playoff ticket $2.10 bleachers and $10.50 upper stand box seat
Cost of a Broadway ticket $8.05 Movie ticket price 68 cents
Crime statistics In 1957, when the film version of Twelve Angry Men was released, there were 314 murders in New York City. By 1990, the number of murders reached a high of 2245. Notably, after many years of crime reduction, in 2018 the numbers had fallen to 312. SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 13
Film Adaptation The 1957 film version of 12 Angry Men was produced by Reginald Rose and starred Henry Fonda. Directed by television veteran Sidney Lumet as his first big screen assignment, the low budget black and white feature was filmed in New York City after a three week rehearsal period. With Fonda as Juror Eight, the rest of the cast consisted of a roster of character actors familiar to film, stage, and television audiences. Although the theatrical run did not bring large audiences, 12 Angry Men was nominated for Oscars for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It won the Golden Bear at the 7th Berlin Film Festival. 12 Angry Men has been named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as a film of significance. It has been named as the second-best courtroom drama film by the American Film Institute. A 1997 remake directed by William Friedkin for the Showtime network starred Jack Lemmon as Juror Eight. In addition, 12 Angry Men has spawned German, Indian, Russian, Chinese, and Tamil film versions. Noteworthy is 12 Angry Lebanese (2009), a documentary about a fourteen month long process of staging the play in Lebanese maximum security prison.
14
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
Top 10 Court Room Dramas List provided by the American Film Institute
1.) To Kill a Mockingbird 1962
2.)12 Angry Men 1957
3.) Kramer vs Kramer 1979
4.) The Verdict 1982
5.) A Few Good Men 1992
6.) Witness for the Prosecution 1957
7.) Anatomy of a Murder 1959
8.) In Cold Blood 1967
9.) A Cry in the Dark 1988 Directed by Fred Schepisi Book by John Bryson Evil Angels Starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill
Director: Robert Mulligan Book by Harper Lee Starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham
Director: Sidney Lumet Book by Barry C. Reed Starring Paul Newman and James Mason
Director: Otto Preminger Book by Robert Traver Starring Duke Ellington and Lee Remick
10.) Judgement at Nuremburg 1961 Director: Stanley Kramer Play by Abby Mann Starring Spencer Tracy
Director: Sidney Lumet Book by Reginald Rose Starring Henry Fonda
Director: Rob Reiner Starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Kevin Bacon
Director: Richard Brooks Book by Truman Capote Starring Robert Blake and Scott Wilson
Director: Robert Benton Book by Avery Corman Starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep
Director: Billy Wilder Book by Agatha Christie Starring Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton
Movie Challenge:
1.)Compare and contrast each film. Did some seem more realistic than others? 2.)What were your thoughts and perspectives on each film? If you were on the jury would you have done anything different? 3.)Have you read any of the corresponding books or plays? SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 15
But there were eyewitnesses!
The jury deliberations in Twelve Angry Men often go back to the testimony of eyewitnesses. Are eyewitness accounts reliable? In the last 25 years, 14,00 people convicted of a crime have been proven innocent and released from jail. According to Thomas Albright and Jed Rakoff, in an article in the The Washington Post on January 30, 2015, many of the wrongful convictions can be attributed to faulty eyewitness identification. The University of Michigan’s National Registry of Exonerations cites many factors including poor lighting, distractions, influence of police body language during a line-up, recollections of line-up merge with memories of the incident. An article in Scientific American published January , 2010 explains that memories are reconstructed rather than played back. Memory researcher and psychologist Elizabeth Loftus explains that memory is “more akin to putting puzzle pieces together than retrieving a video recording.” The following video illustrates the pitfalls of eyewitness identification. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSzPn9rsPcY
16
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
A Lesson with Lawyers
Syracuse Stage’s Community Engagement and Education program had the opportunity to interview two lawyers at Bousquet Holstein PLLC in Syracuse, NY about our judicial system and the connections to Twelve Angry Men. Click the link below and view the video. When you have finished the video please fill out the google form (attached below as well). A Lesson with Lawyers: https://youtu.be/BcC9-FdCTGQ Twelve Angry Men Q & A https://forms.gle/fiM8KinohazSuAfq7
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 17
Glossary Abstain- refrain from (in this case, voting)
Homicide- Murder (initially unsolved)
Acquit- to find a defendant ‘not guilty’ of a charge
Hung Jury- When a jury cannot come to a unamimous decision, and the case muse be retried in front of a new jury
Bigot- Someone who is intolerant of someone else’s beliefs, opinions, race, ethnicity, or other differing characteristic Burden of Proof- The requirement to prove one’s own case over another. In America, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, meaning that they must prove their case beyond reasonable doubt Coroner- One who examines a dead body
Premeditated- Planned or thought out Prosecutor- A lawyer who presents evidence in court to try to prove the defendant guilty Reasonable Doubt- The standard of evidence required to convict someone of a crime in America
Switchblade Knife- A special kind of pocket knife with a blade Cross- Examine- To question a witness called to testify for the contained in the handle which opens automatically by a spring when other side a button, lever, or switch on the handle is activated Defendant- Someone who is charged with a crime and brought to trial
Trial- The public forum in which a case is tried before a judge and jury
Deliberate- To discuss the facts of a case and come to a conclu- Unanimous- All members in agreement sion or guilt or innocence Verdict- The decision of guilt or innocence issued by a jury after a Elevated Train- An above-ground public transportation train trial system Evidence- That which is used to prove a point or case in a court of law -courtesy of 12 Angry Men GradeSaver.com study guide
18
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
1.) Reconstruct the facts of the murder case against the defendant. Consider only the evidence and testimony given during the trial itself. If you knew only these facts, how would you have voted if you were on the jury? 2.) How do the personalities of the jurors contribute to their stance in the jury room? For each one, consider their background, economic status, biases, and prejudices. 3.) How does the setting of Twelve Angry Men influence the dramatic effect of the play? 4.) Juror Eight buys a knife exactly like the one believed to have been used in the crime. This is dramatic, but is it plausible? Would this have been allowed now? Why or why not? 5.) Twelve Angry Men elicits questions about the American justice system. In the 1950s, a death penalty was a possible outcome in a murder trial in New York State. Since 2004, there has been a moratorium on the death penalty in this state. However 29 states still actively seek the death penalty for murder. Is the death penalty an effective deterrent to crime? Is it just? What are the most effective punishments for crimes? 6.) As the jury deliberations continue, what do we learn about the boy who is on trial? How do these revelations affect the way the jurors think of him? How do they affect how you think of him? 7.) What methods of persuasion do the jurors use to convince each other to move to a verdict of guilty or not guilty? 8.) Reflect on the following statements made by jurors in Twelve Angry Men: * “I think we’d be better off if we took these tough kids and slapped ‘em down before they make trouble, you know?” * “What figures! It’s those people! I’m tellin’ you they let the kids run wild up there.” * “Children from slums are potential menaces to society.” 12.) How does playwright Reginald Rose use these statements? What is the expected audience reaction? How prevalent are these ideas? How do they influence our thoughts about justice? Economics? Community? Art?
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 19
elements of drama PLOT
What is the story line? What happened before the play started? What do the characters want? What do they do to achieve their goals? What do they stand to gain/lose? THEME
What ideas are wrestled with in the play? What questions does the play pose? Does it present an opinion? CHARACTER
Who are the people in the story? What are their relationships? Why do they do what they do? How does age/status/etc. effect them? LANGUAGE
What do the characters say? How do they say it? When do they say it? MUSIC
How do music and sound help to tell the story? SPECTACLE
Any piece of theatre comprises multiple art forms. As you explore this production with your students, examine the use of:
WRITING VISUAL ART/DESIGN MUSIC/SOUND DANCE/MOVEMENT
ACTIVITY
At its core, drama is about characters working toward goals and overcoming obstacles. Ask students to use their bodies and voices to create characters who are: very old, very young, very strong, very weak, very tired, very energetic, very cold, very warm. Have their characters interact with others. Give them an objective to fulfill despite environmental obstacles. Later, recap by asking how these obstacles effected their characters and the pursuit of their objectives.
How do the elements come together to create the whole performance?
Other Elements: Conflict/Resolution, Action, Improvisation, Non-Verbal Communication, Staging, Humor, Realism and other styles, Metaphor, Language, Tone, Pattern and Repetition, Emotion, Point of View. 20
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
INQUIRY
How are each of these elements used in this production? Why are they used? How do they help to tell the story?
elements of design LINE can have length, width, texture, direction,
and curve. There are five basic varieties: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, and zig-zag. SHAPE is two-dimensional and encloses space.
It can be geometric (e.g. squares and circles), man-made, or free-form. FORM is three-dimensional. It encloses space
and fills space. It can be geometric (e.g. cubes and cylinders), man-made, or free-form. COLOR has three basic properties:
HUE is the name of the color (e.g. red, blue, green), INTENSITY is the strength of the color (bright or dull), VALUE is the range of lightness to darkness.
TEXTURE refers to the “feel” of an object’s surface. It can be smooth, rough, soft, etc. Textures may be ACTUAL (able to be felt) or IMPLIED (suggested visually through the artist’s technique).
SPACE is defined and determined by shapes and forms. Positive space is enclosed by shapes and forms, while negative space exists around them.
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 21
Sources Once thought lost, the original Studio One production of 12 Angry Men has been recovered and is posted on Youtube. It is 51 minutes long and was broadcast on September 20, 1954. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DkI2I0W5i8 Abromovitch, Seth. “Emmy flashback: In 1954 Twelve Angry Men debuted live on CBS.” The Hollywood Reporter, June 13, 2017 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emmys-flashback-1954-twelve-angry-men-debuted-live-cbs-1011474 Reliability of eyewitnesses: Thomas Albright, Jed Rakoff.“Eyewitnesses aren’t as reliable as you think,” Washington Post, January 30, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eyewitnesses-arent-as-reliable-as-you-might-think/2015/01/30/fe1bc26c-7a74-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html A jury expert reflects on 12 Angry Men Bornstein, Brian Phd. “What we can learn from 12 Angry Men. Psychology Today, posted February 10, 2012. ”https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-jurys-trials/201202/what-we-can-learn-twelve-angry-men Arkowitz, Hal, Lillienfeld, Scott O.“Do the eyes have it? Why science tells us not to rely on eyewitness accounts,” Scientific American, January 1, 2010. ”https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-the-eyes-have-it/ Video sources: “When Eyes Deceive: Eyewitness Testimony.” Discovery Channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSzPn9rsPcY . posted January 19, 2009.* 4 News Now. “The eyewitness test: How do you stack up?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6fRH5MLBIU . posted February 26 2010 Crime Statistics: “Supplement to Annual report Police Department New York City 1956.” Accessed Septenber1, 2019. https://books.google.com/books?id=p69NAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA6-PA40&lpg=RA6-PA40&dq=nyc+crime+statistics+by+year+1957&source=bl&ots=TdRda6dSrr&sig=ACfU3U1_VgWCkcGpeGUR_nQwY2-qCoVFIw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj7xLjuipzkAhVRmuAKHXi3Boc4ChDoATADegQICRAB#v=onepage&q&f=false NYPD. Historic Crime Data, “Analysis and planning major felonies reported by the NYPD” accessed September 1 2019. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-2000-2018.pdf Wikipedia. “Crime in New York City.” Last edited September 18 2019. Historical Make-up of American Juries: Library of Congress. “ American Women: resources from the law library.” Accessed September 3 2019. https://guides.loc.gov/american-women-law Library of Congress American women: Resources from the law library last updated March 19, 2019. Taylor, Jennifer. “Private: racial discrimination in jury selection,” Expert Forum, Law and Policy Analysis, American Constitution Society, posted February 12, 2015. https://www.acslaw.org/expertforum/racial-discrimination-in-jury-selection/
22
|
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
MAR 11 - 29
By Reginald Rose | Directed by James Still Co-Produced with Indiana Repertory Theatre
By Peter Shaffer | Directed by Robert Hupp Co-Produced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama
ANGRY MEN
NOV 22 - JAN 5
Disney’s
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Music by Alan Menken | Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice | Book by Linda Woolverton | Directed by Donna Drake Co-Produced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama
JAN 22 - FEB 16
THE WOLVES
By Sarah DeLappe | Directed by Melissa Rain Anderson | Co-Produced with the Syracuse University Department of Drama
AMADEUS APR 15 - MAY 3
ONCE
Book by Enda Walsh | Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová | Based on the Motion Picture Written and Directed by John Carney | Directed by Mark Cuddy Co-Produced with Geva Theatre Center
MAY 27 - JUN 14
YOGA PLAY
OFF SUBSCRIPTION
OCT 9 - 27
SEP 4 - 21
THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN WORLD PREMIERE
By Keenan Scott II | In association with Brian Moreland and Ron Simons | Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III | Co-Produced with Baltimore Center Stage
APR 1 - 5
COLD READ
A FESTIVAL OF HOT NEW PLAYS
Playwright-In-Residence Octavio Solis Solo Performer-In-Residence Bill Bowers Featured Local Playwright Charles Martin Curated by Kyle Bass
By Dipika Guha Directed by Robert Hupp
SEASON SPONSORS
315.443.3275 SYRACUSESTAGE.ORG
SYRACUSE STAGE EDUCATION
| 23