Theatre Aspen Education presents winter youth production of ‘Twelve Angry Jurors’

News News | Feb 16, 2023

Sarah Girgis

Cast members for "Twelve Angry Jurors" rehearse on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, inside the Black Box Theatre at Aspen High School. The plot centers around a 19-year-old man who has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. (Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times)
*Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times*

Vanessa Strahan, the director of secondary education at Theatre Aspen, has long had a passion for providing young people a robust theater education.

“When I was in college, I started working with an organization that produced a multi-sensory interactive theater for folks on the autism spectrum or with other developmental disabilities and just really fell in love with seeing those kids experience theater in a way that was tailored to them,” she said. “There’s just something so magical about playing and creating in a room with people who have these wild and huge imaginations and remembering how much theater and arts meant to me as a young person and how much it changed my life. It’s wonderful to witness people going through that same thing that I got to experience, to help provide that.”

Strahan who relocated to the valley about a year and a half ago from the Chicago area to work with Theatre Aspen’s education arm, said that while this is Theatre Aspen’s 40th anniversary year, the education program is celebrating its 25th year of providing theater education and resources to K-12 local youth.

“Theater education is so important because it builds self-confidence. Putting yourself out there with other people watching you, it’s a hard thing to do, and many of them find that very anxiety inducing, just like making your choices as a person in the sight of your peers,” she said. “I think getting to exercise that muscle and go out and make choices for the character, rather than just as yourself, can feel like a safe way to like flex that muscle.”

All local high school-aged students were encouraged to audition for their current winter youth production of the Tony Award winning musical, “Twelve Angry Jurors,” directed by Strahan and dramaturgy by James Early. Students from Aspen and downvalley schools, as well as a couple of home-schooled students, were ultimately cast in the play.

“I was really looking for a dramatic piece for them, or this year, and this is a piece that is very much a classic of the American Theater canon, but it’s something that is still extremely relevant today,” she said.

The plot of “Twelve Angry Jurors” centers around a 19-year-old man who has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. “He doesn’t stand a chance,” mutters the guard as the 12 jurors are taken into the bleak jury room.

It looks like an open-and-shut case — until one of the jurors begins opening the others’ eyes to the facts and how their own histories, prejudices, and biases influence their life-or-death decision. The play ultimately contemplates the huge responsibility of ordinary people as they consider the guilt or innocence of a young man accused of murder and was adapted for the stage by Sherman L. Sergel from the original teleplay “Twelve Angry Men,” by Reginald Rose.

“One thing I find interesting is this play is in real time; everyone is right there on stage for 75 minutes,” she said. “We see this group of 12 people go through this very difficult, taxing journey together, having all these debates and arguments and ups and downs,” she said. “They have to really live through the journey with that character throughout the whole arc of the play.”

Strahan said that since there are no breaks in the play or time off stage, this is a challenging play for any actor, let alone high school performers; but she credited the 13 local teens for bringing a level of professionalism and passion to the production, especially since many are playing characters that are complete opposites of who they are in real life.

“I think it’s hard to have empathy for people who are so different from you,” she said, “especially if it comes to your rights, your morals, and your ethics. But that’s one of the most effective ways to go about solving those problems, and this play puts it front and center and allowed us to go through that process. It is wonderful to see the kids in these early stages of developing their craft like this and being able to be so emotionally present.”

This year marks the graduation of four seniors who have participated in the Theatre Aspen education programs and dozens of productions throughout the years. Theatre Aspen’s “Twelve Angry Jurors” will be the final performance for Eliza Marolt, Haver Muss-Nichols, Isabella Poschman, and Willow Poschman.

“The Twelve Angry Jurors” performances will take place Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m., with a matinee on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Aspen Black Box Theatre on the Aspen School District Campus. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and Roaring Fork Valley teachers and are available at TheatreAspen.org or at theatreaspen.org/jurors/.