12 JURORS

MEDFORD SENIOR HIGH DRAMA DEPARTMENT PRESENTS

What happens when you put 12 different people with their own opinions and personalities in a room to decide the fate of a young man on trial for murder? What you get is a dramatic play called “12 Angry Jurors.” The Medford Area Senior High School Drama Club will be performing this play on the 27, 28, 29 of April.

I interviewed the director of the play, Lisa Porten, and senior Ava Bersie about the play.

This will be Mrs. Porten’s 18th play/musical that she has directed at MASH and she will be directing the upcoming summer show for Medford Area Community Theater.

Why did you decide on the 12 Angry Jurors and what does it mean to you?

“I chose it because usually in the high school, I try to do a variety of shows for the kids to experience throughout their high school career. So they have done a comedic musical, they’ve done a dramatic musical, children’s play. Now this time around we’re doing a dramatic play. Last spring we did a comedic play so it was in the cycle to do a dramatic one. I picked 12 Angry Jurors because it’s very simplistic but complicated at the same time, you’re locked in a room with 11 other people trying to decide the fate of another person and tensions rise, there’s arguments. Basically these people come to understand that everyone has a right to be heard and we shouldn’t take things for granted, we shouldn’t judge people by their appearance,” Porten said.

How do you feel about the Senior leaving?

“It’s kinda bittersweet to lose any of my seniors, cause they worked up as freshmen all through the years and you’ve seen them develop into good actors but also just good people, and Ava is one of those kids. Yeah, its gonna be bittersweet to lose her she is a very lovely young woman,” Porten said.

How many different grades are there in the play?

“The majority of my kids are freshmen and sophomores, so underclassmen. Which is great because every season you go through a flux, you lose a bunch of seniors, like this last year I lost over 10 seniors. So it’s nice to see a younger group coming in, so you can build your repertoire of players to a good level again. So the older ones, mainly Juniors with the one Senior, they can help bring those younger ones in and show them the ropes a little bit,” Porten said.

Ava Bersie is not only in the play, she is also in choir and band, and she wants to be a choir teacher when she finishes school.

How do you feel about this being your last play ever in High School?

“It’s really sad, I wish I would have done more of them in my first two years of high school,” Bersie said.

Who do you play and what do you think of your role in the play?

“I'm playing the Foreman, so I’m keeping everyone in control. It's very accurate to how I am personality wise,” Bersie said.

How does being in band and choir affect you being in the play?

“It's not too bad, a lot of stuff doesn't conflict with it because our concerts don’t really go over practices. There has been a couple times where it's been ‘I can't go to this cause I have a band thing’ or ‘I can't go to this cause I have a choir thing’. But we usually just practice on our own time,” Bersie said.

—Collin Rausch, Reporter