I had a marvelous time at the Actors Theatre Playhouse production of "12 Angry Men" Saturday night. It's a great play, and it was very well done ... fine acting all around, particularly from Greg Lesch, as the juror who stands alone in the beginning and Bob Gruen as the one who stands alone at the end.
The intimacy of ATP's cozy, three-quarter round stage enhanced the enjoyment and made me feel like I was right there in the jury room with the actors.
I expected to have a good time; I've always been impressed with the caliber of ATP's offerings. What surprised me was how much Reginald Rose's 50-year-old classic has to say about our own time. It's about standing up for what you believe in, having the courage to stand alone when others are arrayed against you, challenging existing prejudices and assumptions ... all very salient points in our time - and any time.
What struck me about the play was how much it says about respecting other viewpoints ... challenge them, yes, when you feel you must, but respect them, too. That's an aspect to our current political/moral dialogue that has been lacking of late — on any level, from the Brattleboro Selectboard to the national scene to the United Nations.
I chatted with producer Sam Pilo briefly after that the show, and he made an interesting observation. ATP first ran "12 Angry Men" last fall, and at that time, audiences seemed most responsive to the aspect of the play that's about one man standing alone - in some ways mirroring the national discussion during the run up to the mid-term congressional elections. Now, other aspects of the play are rising to the fore - persuading others to join you, marshalling the moral authority to effect change, moving beyond merely standing up to engage in dialogue and make change. And through this change, the play has held up.
All that and a roaring good time at the theater. The Actors Theatre has never let me down; I love the intimacy, the quality of the acting, the pure dedication to scripts and actors, the affordable tickets. If you haven't gone, treat yourself to a night at the theater.
ATP's season continues with "Italian American Reconciliation," which runs from July 26 to Aug. 18. It's an offbeat, romantic comedy that's been called a fairy tale from Brooklyn. It was written by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of "Moonstruck," John Patrick Shanley. Read the Brattleboro Reformer for details in the next few weeks or visit www.ActorsPlay.org