The Olathe West theater department is preparing an adaptation of the 1957 movie “12 Angry Men,” turning it into “12 Angry Jurors” to make the play more gender inclusive compared to the original.
The original movie is about a jury deciding the fate of a teenager on trial for murder which is the same plot of “12 Angry Jurors.”
Another way the theater department created this gender-inclusive environment is by double-casting the roles of Jurors Three and Eight.
The role of Juror Three is held by senior Gen Anderson and junior Fred Sollars, while Juror Eight is held by senior Lauren Grimes and junior Aaron Shirley.
“[Double casting] is debated among some other departments, but it’s the first time that our department has said to do it because this is one of the smallest casts,” Sollars said.
With only a cast of 13, it can be difficult to assign only one person to act a role when there may be other great actors as well.
“The point of double casting and getting everyone to play different roles on different nights is to play with gender dynamics,” Grimes said. “Which I think is really cool.”
Even though more actors, no matter their gender, get the opportunity to perform in this small cast, the show is said to be difficult to perform in due to the actors being on stage for most of the play.
“There’s no breaks where a certain actor will go off stage,” Sollars said. “You have to be very attentive the whole time because you’re always on stage.”
12 Angry Jurors will be featured at the end of February and the beginning of March to all who wish to come see this crime-filled play.
