Twelve Angry Men
Oxford School of Drama, October 2026
dir. Kristine Landon-Smith
It was my pleasure to return to Oxford and work with 3rd Year students on a studio performance of 12 Angry Men by Reginal Rose. Originally written as a teleplay in 1954 which then went on to be a film directed by Sidney Lumet in 1957, it is a critique of the American jury system during the McCarthy era. Twelve men sit around a table as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a teenager charged with murder. For our production,Twelve, we had a mixed jury of men and women. We set it in 1963 where mixed juries were more common and where the possibility of the death penalty was in it’s last year.
A dynamic script which gave all students many challenges and thrills and as usual the OSD students rose to the occasion.