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‘12 Angry Men’ keeps audience in suspense

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By Melissa Coulter | Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:36 AM CDT | () comments

(Contributed photo) Jim Driscoll, standing, tries to persuade fellow jurors, from left, Don Hazen, Joe Mital, Bill Bates, Joshua Kahn and William Pepper to reconsider their guilty verdict in a murder case.

This weekend, set your DVR to record “Law & Order,” because the best crime drama to be found is at Playcrafters Barn Theatre in Moline.

Reginald Rose’s “Twelve Angry Men” is as enthralling as any “Perry Mason” episode. Only in this play, you don’t hear the murder case argued by lawyers; you watch the jurors rehash, struggle and fight over the evidence presented at the trial.

Playcrafters’ thrust stage puts the audience on three sides of the long table at which the men sit. The cast pulls the audience into the stuffy deliberation room on a hot, September afternoon in 1957. In fact, last Friday’s audience felt so much a part of the action that director Craig Michaels asked Saturday’s viewers to refrain from drinking from the onstage water cooler during intermission in his preshow announcements.

Set in New York City, the play revolves around the jurors — 12 men who “can’t even agree if the window should be open” — who are deciding the fate of a 19-year-old boy from the tenements, accused of stabbing his father to death. All but Juror No. Eight, played by Jim Driscoll, are ready to turn in a guilty verdict from the get-go.

Driscoll plays the group’s conscience expertly. His understated demeanor is the perfect foil for Jerry Wolking’s fiery Juror No. Three, who takes any appeal to reason as a personal attack. The two are well-matched as protagonist and antagonist and supported by an ensemble of seasoned actors playing developed characters.

Rose gives no names to the jurors. They are referred to only by numbers in the script. Yet, each stands out in this production as a unique person. Joe Mital gets smiles and laughs as wide-eyed, slow-thinking Juror No. Two, easily swayed by the majority opinion. Michael B. Miller plays Juror No. 11, an Eastern European immigrant, with a spot-on accent and endearing delivery.

Tom Morrow plays a despicable bigot as Juror No. 10. His speech about “these people” who live in the tenements first elicited chuckles from the audience, but as it went on, I recognized opinions I have heard or read in response to recent crimes in the Quad-Cities. One by one, the jurors turned their backs on his rant, and the audience went silent.

Michaels and the cast have done an outstanding job of creating a believable group of strangers whose first and only chance to interact requires them to make a life-or-death decision. The costuming and incidental music by NYC jazz man Kenyon Hopkins define the 1950s setting, along with the actors’ deft handling of dialogue and mannerisms anchored in the period.

It’s difficult to elaborate on the excellence of any one person’s performance because this show’s strength lies in how well the cast works as an ensemble. Even Don Madsen’s minimal appearances as the guard are remarkable in how well he fits into this world Michaels and cast have created.

I’ve read the script and seen the 1957 film version starring Henry Fonda. But I was still leaning forward from the time Driscoll produced the switchblade — the first piece of evidence in his argument — until the end of the show. I recommend this production to anyone who enjoys a suspenseful, well-played drama. As one woman sitting near me Saturday night whispered just before curtain call, “This was good.”

Melissa Coulter can be contacted at (563) 383-2243 or mcoulter@qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: “Twelve Angry Men”

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Ave., Moline

How much: $10

Information: (309) 762-0330; playcrafters.com