This year, the Sion theatre department is performing “Twelve Angry Jurors,”, a drama about the deliberations of a murder jury. The show provides insight into the role of everyday people in the criminal justice process.
“The person the jurors are supposed to be figuring the case for is Black. So everybody’s kind of racist at the beginning, and they really judge a book by its cover. Except there’s one juror who’s like, ‘I don’t know guys,’” senior Rin Campbell said. “I think it opens the doors for discussions about racism and its effects that still happen today because this is a very recent thing, it still happens in courts.”
The production began with auditions on Thursday, Jan. 30, followed by callbacks for those who performed well the following day. All play auditions at Sion consist of cold reads, where potential actors are given scripts to read from without preparation.
“I think it’s a place where you can really experiment because ultimately, we’re not going out for specific roles. You’re thrown in there and you do what they give you,” senior Elwyn Patterson said. “What’s unique about this year is they’re making cuts, which has never happened in my experience. So the stakes are a whole lot higher for a lot more people.”
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Once actors are selected, rehearsals begin and continue until the play’s date. The last week before the play is known as Tech Week, and it is when practice in the performing venue begins. Tech Week is known for its long days as the cast and crew familiarize themselves with all the equipment and perform full runs of the script.
“You have 12-hour days, and then you’re two days in and you’re kind of sitting there like, ‘Okay, this is what I signed up to do so I’m going to do this,’” sophomore Abby Gural said. “And by the end of it, you’re tired and you’re barely dragging yourself through your classes but you see your first opening show and you’re kind of like, ‘Yeah, this is what the 12-hour days of no sleep was all for.’”
