This year’s Bengali play The Verdict is based on Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men, which is heralded as one of the all-time great theatrical releases.
The Verdict focuses on a jury's deliberations in a capital murder case. A jury consisting of 12 individuals is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of a 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing his father to death, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death sentence. However, a 12-0 vote, either way, is a prerequisite for the verdict.
The case appears to be an open-and-shut one. The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8 casts a not guilty vote. At first he bases his vote more so for the sake of discussion. After all, the jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty.
As the deliberations unfold, the hidden preconceptions and assumptions of the jurors are revealed. The story quickly becomes a study of the jurors' complex personalities, which range from wise, bright and empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and merciless.
12 Angry Men won the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year in 1958 in addition to the Best Screenplay and Best Director awards. It won numerous awards including the Golden Bear won by George C Scott for his portrayal of the 3rd juror, in the remake (1997) at the Berlin Film Festival. The play is running even today at the Broadway to packed houses. It was a film Eleanor Roosevelt was fond of citing it as one of her favorites. Coincidentally, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the well-acclaimed film.
Our Bengali play The Verdict is an adaptation from 12 Angry Men, and is set in India in the 50s when the jury system existed there.
Twelve Jurors. Twelve walks of life. And only two ways to rule: guilty or not guilty. When faced with playing the hangman, each juror must face himself or herself. What happens in the end? Do they have a reasonable doubt? Watch The Verdict on 30th June to find out.
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Script and Direction: Nikhilesh Gupta
Music, Special Effects & Sound: Samyajit Chaudhuri
Stage and Sets: Sanjoy Banerjee
Lights: Sudip Sarkar
Prompter: Sujata Dasgupta
Publicity: Dhrubajyoti Das
Cast
Juror 1: Indranil Banerjee
Juror 2: Surajit Khan
Juror 3: Nikhilesh Gupta
Juror 4: Debanjan Bagchi
Juror 5: Saurav Chatterjee
Juror 6: Koushik Kundu
Juror 7: Manas Mukherjee
Juror 8: Dhrubajyoti Das
Juror 9: Ananya Mukherjee
Juror 10: Soumyesh Banerjee
Juror 11: Mithu Chakraborty
Juror 12: Shantanu Bhattacharya
Guard: Tapas Coomer
Acknowledgments
Anita Das, Antara Bagchi, Chandankana Sarkar, Gautam De, Madhuchhanda Banerjee, Mahua Banerjee, Mausumi Banerjee, Mitali Chakraborty, Neela Gupta, Paramita Rakshit, Rishav Rakshit, Samit Ghosal, Sampoorna Das Gupta, Saswati Khan, Srabonti Dutta, Sudakshina Ghosh & Sudeshna Banerjee
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7.30 pm – 9.30 pm, 30th June 2007
Nanyang Girls’ High School Auditorium
2 Linden Drive, Singapore 288683
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