By: Sam Bryant, Aidan Price, and Gabby LeBron 

This time of year brings one of our favorite Cary High traditions – the fall play! This year’s performance, 12 Angry Jurors, features 16 of our talented students in the cast.  

For those of you unfamiliar with the play, 12 Angry Jurors displays the duty given to twelve vastly different citizens: to decide the fate of a young man tried for muder. This timeless play depicts the twelve jurors going head to head against each other in order to come to a just decision. Each juror shows a range of belligerence, composure, and extreme prejudice. With tensions rising, will they deem the boy guilty or is there a reasonable doubt? 

Last week, we took the time to interview some of the cast members about their favorite parts of the play and the challenges they’ve encountered. Many noted how nice it was to finally be able to perform for the first time in over a year. Liam Vaughn, the stage manager of the theater department, shared his excitement for that aspect of the show: “I can’t wait to finally see the looks on people’s faces for the first time in two years when they watch an actor do something really cool… I haven’t seen someone’s face go ‘oh MAN’ in a really long time.” Katie Broughton, who plays Juror 10, is also happy to be back and adds that “getting to see everyone back in rehearsal to begin with has been one of the predominant highlights [of the production].” 

12 Angry Jurors has indeed been an exciting way for the cast to return to the stage. “This show has definitely been my favorite because it feels so inclusive,” shares Sam Bryant (Juror 8). The show, which is officially titled 12 Angry Men, has been altered to include actors of all genders rather than an all-male cast. 

However, performing again for the first time in months can have its challenges. Evan Szypulski describes the most challenging part of playing his role of Juror 4: 

“Ultimately, just the language. Not only was this play from the 1950s, but this guy was a smart guy from the 1950s, so his language is not only out of date but it’s so specific… sometimes in acting if you get across the main idea of a phrase then it works fine but since this character is so analytical and fact oriented that if I waver just a bit from the script itself then it can change the audience’s expectations and understanding of the entire story.”

The production has also allowed for interesting dynamics between cast members. “One of the first things I said to our director about this show was that I am looking forward to clashing with Sam Bryant,” says Aidan Price (Juror 3), a senior in the show.  “I would say me and Sam have a very close friendship, and I’ve never been upset at him, so getting to yell at him it’s so interesting to me. I also get to aggressively stare at him for the whole show.”

At the end of the day, however, being back on stage has led to more cast bonding. “It’s a much smaller cast than a lot of the other things I’ve done,” adds Serena Price (Juror 11), “so I think that makes us more tight knit.” Lillie Jessee (Juror 2) agrees and fondly says, “I love the people I work with.”

12 Angry Jurors will be performed Wednesday through Saturday at 7 pm, with doors opening at 6:30. Tickets are $5 and sold at the door. We can’t wait to see you there!