Last Wednesday, Mer and I got together with Aunt Mary for a middle-of-the-week outing. It was time for CVCA’s fall play, and since Mer was going to be out of town for a conference Thursday through Sunday, we needed to go to the Wednesday performance. CVCA was putting on Twelve Angry Jurors, the co-ed version of the film classic Twelve Angry Men. Aunt Mary very much wanted to see the production, so we had our mid-week date night all set.

We went out to supper at Texas Roadhouse, and as an added bonus we ran into the cast of the play finishing their supper (they had a 5:30 curtain call). It was fun to see the kids, who were all pumped up about the play. We had a good supper, and swung by the house briefly before heading over to school for the play.

Mer and I were finally able to buy some “Stargrams” for students we know. Stargrams are a fundraiser that happens at every play that CVCA does; they are slips of paper where you can write an encouraging note to anyone, cast or crew, who is involved in the play. For fifty cents each, they get delivered backstage, and the money goes toward helping a service group with their spring break service trips. Since Mer and I had finally sold the house, we felt we could afford to send Stargrams (Mer always has at least ten students in the plays, and even I had four this time).

The set was interesting. It was just one room with a conference table, but the walls were stripped away back to the studs in various places. The director’s notes in the program explained that the walls were “peeled back” in layers since the play was all about attempting to peel back verbal layers to get to peoples’ motivations and (hopefully) the truth.

The actual play was pretty intense. I had seen the movie version years ago, but had forgotten most of the specifics. The play is about a jury in a murder trial, and the initial vote is eleven to one that the defendant is guilty. The play then unfolds as the jurors try to convince the one man who voted “not guilty” to change his mind. It is a very serious drama, and the students did a very nice job of keeping the scenes tense and focused. There were some occasional deliberately comic moments, but on the whole it was a fairly gripping ninety minutes. The play was done with one intermission.

The students were all playing people older than themselves, including one girl who was playing an elderly woman. They did a nice job of staying in character, even when they were not center stage. The only minor acting flaw I saw was that the students would occasionally get really angry (as the characters are supposed to), but then they would back off from the anger. I suppose that is one “problem” of having nice people at CVCA.

I enjoyed the play very much, and Mer and Aunt Mary seemed to enjoy it as well. The director, Brandon, and I talked the next day, and he was very pleased by the performance. He was also excited that the audience got sucked in and was tracking with the play. CVCA’s theater program is excellent, and this production did not disappoint.