Entertainment: Students present ’12 Angry Jurors’ to explore justice system

Christopher High School’s Catamount Actors Theater is run by students, for students

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By Keira Silver

Christopher High School tackles injustice and prejudice in the American justice system when the student-led Catamount Actors Theater Company performs the riveting drama “12 Angry Jurors.”

A classic of American theater, the show follows a dozen diverse jurors debating the fate of a Black teenager accused of murder. The stage floor is black and white squares resembling a chess board, symbolizing the jurors’ need to make an unambiguous decision.

The jurors argue among themselves about the details of the killing, with each individual having a tale to tell. While not a true story, it reflects similar real-life incidents that connect with this show.

Isabel Malone, a senior at Christopher, is in her second year with the student-led theater company. She believes the story is both fun and challenging, due to different human perspectives.

“I think that’s one of the main things (about the show) is it’s kind of about humanity itself and the justice system,” she said.

While using her understanding of her character, Malone has been rehearsing with her castmates for about 10 weeks. Each character is given a juror number instead of a name. She learned how to read between her lines to incorporate how her character’s time and setting affected her beliefs, she said.

“I’ll kind of create the life and the backstory of my character and the opinions and her social class,” she said. “Everything about her that would morph her into this person with opinions, and those opinions being her own … a lot of research and practicing and imagination goes into it.”

Malone knows how important her castmates are to the show and to both her performance as personally as friends. They work together both inside and outside of school, to memorize their scripts and discuss how their characters would interact with each other, she said.

“We support each other (and) we lean on each other,” Malone said. “That’s what we need in a show: a family.”

Malone wants audiences to see the message of “12 Angry Jurors.” She believes the show is fun and interesting.

“It touches on our reality,” she said. “This story can fit in really any time that you put it, even now. There’s a bit of comedy to it. It’s a great show.”

Isabella Tovar is also a senior at Christopher and the director for this play. She believes the prime message is the justice system still has flaws and personal prejudice should not be included in a jury’s decision.

“We do have the potential to have one of the greatest justice systems in the world,” she said. “It’s based off of just the facts and only the facts. A lot of it has to say about both the flaws of our system, but both the ways that it could triumph.”

From a young age, Tovar has always had a passion for acting. When she joined the Catamount Actors Theater, she knew she had found her focus.

“I loved it from the get-go,” she said. “As soon as I joined the Christopher program, I knew that this was going to be my high school career forever.”

Tovar appreciates how many opportunities Catamount has provided teens in the program. Catamount has taught them many life skills, she said.

“It’s giving all of us the opportunity to not only pursue art in a way that is wonderful and hands-on, (but) it’s giving us the opportunity to learn,” she said. “We have an executive board that is all students … we’re all learning as we go along, and I don’t think anywhere else really has students running a program like this.”

Jacob Hage has been an actor in the company for three years. Now a senior, he has prepared for the play by reading through his lines and practicing with his castmates.

“It’s getting on our feet, practicing our blocking,” he said. “It’s mainly just reading through lines, helping each other out. It’s just a lot of brainstorming and collaboration.”

Hage appreciates the atmosphere of the Catamount Theater. He has found inspiration from his peers, which has helped him to stay motivated and do his best, he said.

“It’s more than just a theater class,” he said. “It’s quite literally a program. Everyone has a role to play, and everyone plays their role perfectly. It’s really opened my eyes to how professional people can be when you put your mind to something, which I really find inspiring.”

Hage believes this play is important because it discusses how some topics are not touched on enough.

“We try our best to do a great job at conveying those characters, to really put into perspective that people think like this,” he said. “It’s a problem. There’s so much that goes into the legal system that should not go into it.”

Riley Alison Brown, a senior, is the publicist for the show. She knows the play is important because of its descriptions of “murder-realism.”

“It’s very beautiful in its writing,” she said. “It has a lot of meaning when you think about the emotion of it all. It opens eyes to how everything is not black and white, and you really have to look deeper into what’s truly there to get the truth out of it.”

Brown, who plays the jury’s foreman, has discovered to balance her roles as an actress and as the show’s publicist. She has learned how to promote the play and remember her lines to get a strong background of the story.

“I have so much background of the show and I know the information,” she said. “I know exactly what I’m telling other people about it.”

Brown has been acting for 12 years. This show will be her 45th production and final show with Christopher. She has been with Catamount for four years, with additional productions outside of school. Her goal is to go to college for a bachelors in fine arts in screen acting or a major in theater arts with an emphasis in acting, she said.

“The film industry is definitely something I want to get into,” she said. “I have three short films under my belt and one more coming this December. I’m very excited to be working on something, and I’ve had the chance for my last three years of high school to be able to work in more dramas.”

Brown feels “12 Angry Jurors” is meaningful because of its discussion on society. She believes the audience can relate to the story because of its connection to reality.

“Every single piece that is in this show could have 100 percent actually happened,” she said. “That’s what makes it feel so real.”

Brown said developing a show brings the students together during rehearsals and performances. The cast is also in the same theater class together, which helps with the closeness of the group.

“It’s so comforting to have these people you can be close with,” she said. “It’s a very collaborative effort.”

Dr. Kate Booth has been with the theater program since 2009. As a drama teacher, she is also the producer and artistic director of the play. She recognizes how much a production such as “12 Angry Jurors” costs.

“We’re doing real productions all out,” she said. “We spend between $4,000 and $7,500 per show. It’s very expensive to do theater.”

Booth hopes audiences attend and support local theater. As an educational institution that’s often competing with other programs for resources and support, it’s important for art supporters to show up for performances, she said.

“You cannot do theater without an audience,” she said.  “(The actors are) working at a level that rivals anything else being done in this area. We’re choosing plays that have messages that we think the community needs to hear. We’re doing this as real theater.”

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Keira Silver is a senior at Christopher High School. She wrote this story with mentorship from publisher Martin Cheek.

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