Show Events and Tickets – LATTE Theater

Notes from the Director/Producer

We attempt to always be logical. Reasonable. Levelheaded. Yet we each have blind spots. Bias towards ourselves and toward others. Reginald Rose’s powerful work challenged people in 1954 and still shines a social-justice spotlight that resonates today.

Nobody wants jury duty in our already harried lives. But what about the lives of others? The lives of those who are being tried for crimes that they may or may not have committed. Those who desperately hope to have an impartial jury who can see the truth and ascertain if reasonable doubt is indeed… reasonable? For we have come so far in some ways since 1954, such as women are now allowed to be jurors. Yet, on this journey, we have so far to go….For we must judge someone on WHAT they’ve done, NOT who they are. Fair judgement, not simple condemnation.

The characters in this prolific work are never known by any other name but their juror number. They come from different backgrounds, countries, different everything. Yet these anonymous jurors are there to judge if a 16-year-old boy should be put to death for the murder of his father… or if enough doubt exists to spare his life. It looks like an open-and-shut case for guilt. Yet we hear a single voice raised to plead for just a little deliberation time to reexamine the evidence.

This unique courtroom drama meets stage-play is also a MYSTERY, as the jurors reenact the murder, re-examine the evidence… and their own prejudices. Tempers burn and furies rage that lead to an actual murder almost being committed before our eyes! Each character must bravely look in the mirror to determine and OWN their own bias that could literally cost someone their life. For a guilty vote means the electric chair.

These people we might pass on the streets, together, must learn to listen to others… more than their own instincts, hearts, and minds. For in their combined wisdom lies the answer. The final electrifying verdict will keep you on the edge of your seat! And now? No more spoilers! Thanks a LATTE, for supporting the Arts and Youth in our program! You make such a difference!

Felicia Pfluger, Founder, Director, Producer of LATTE