Leonardtown High School’s students are back with another great production, Twelve Angry Jurors, the story of twelve jurors deciding the fate of a young man who is being charged with murdering his own father. The jurors struggle between the emotions, the facts, their personal experiences, and their moral codes that will decide the fate of a complete stranger.

The play begins with twelve jurors, all of which vote the young man guilty except for Juror #8, played by Junior Natalie Brown. As the story progresses, more jurors begin to side with #8’s perspective of the case and she soon finds herself coming up against the highly opinionated Juror #3, played by Junior Ben Dewey.

This play was very riveting and brought forth the emotions of not only the characters but also among the audience. The actors also portrayed their characters so well that it was convincing and quickly drew attention to how different each character was in personality and how it all contributed to the outcome of the case.

As many in the audience had noticed, Twelve Angry Jurors stands out from the previous productions, which were mainly dramas and comedies, and instead was laced with a much different idea. According to Theatre director and teacher, Mr. Fogle, saw this play as a way to represent the idea of “how people make decisions based on emotions without looking at the facts” and even stating that he saw it as “‘a social message.” Leonardtown High School students such as Junior Emily Grey, agree that this play was proving that “the emotions that each person had towards the case defined their actions and opinions.” She also added that she thought “that it really made the play relatable to the audience.”

Where Mr. Fogle emphasizes the idea that the play was a social message he agrees with Mr. Barbato, the technical director of the Leonardtown High School Theater, in such that they should let students take the initiative as a learning process as well as a way for students to grow. On the technical side of the production, Barbato allowed students, assisting in the lighting, sound, and the set, to take the lead. His favorite part was working with the “awesome students who are involved in our productions” is “watching the show grow…into a concrete reality”. He added, “It is really cool when your students can look at that and think, ‘that was my idea!’ or ‘I built that!”

Many students involved in the play such as Sarah Dudley, the costumer, and Christina Henderson, who played Juror #2, felt as though the “whole production was very hands on and a great learning experience.” They also stated that they gained many friends and that everyone was “really chill” according to Christina.

If you really enjoyed this play or the previous productions put on by Leonardtown High School students, be prepared for the upcoming spring musical, Little Women!