"12 Angry Animals." Photo Credit: Justin Chauncey
More than six decades after its original release, writer Reginald Rose’s seminal courtroom drama 12 Angry Men remains an heirloom of mid-century theatre and cinema. And like most work that stands the test of time, it’s endured its fair share of adaptations—Comedy Central’s “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” comes to mind as a particularly curious iteration.
Last fall, in conjunction with Phantom Limb Theatre Company, the Tisch Department of Drama brought to stage an energetic update with an ecological interest. In 12 Angry Animals, each of the 12 jurors in Rose’s original piece is reimagined as a member of an endangered animal species, poised to charge the last known surviving human with the destruction of the planet. Set in an imagined future dystopia, this most progressive of reenvisionings relied on animal masks, creative costume design, a movement director, and inventive stage design to construct an entirely original environment. In recent weeks, as part of a rotating exhibit, the costumes and masks have been inviting onlookers to take a peek inside the window display at Tisch’s 721 Broadway building.
“The students designed pretty much everything in the production, from scenic to lighting to costumes,” says Scott Mancha, production manager in the Department of Drama. “So the costumes you see in the window were all designed by students, and the masks were designed by Phantom Limb Company and built with our prop artisan Ted Griffith.”
The play came to Abe Burrows Theatre in October and capitalized on Phantom Limb’s penchant for puppetry—though in this case the company turned Tisch acting students into their imagined, mask-wearing puppets. Associate Arts Professor Chris Jaehnig led students from the production and design studio who were responsible for everything from scenery to costumes to lighting and sound.
“We go through a process that mirrors the profession,” says Jahenig. “We bring the creative team together, we start a design process, they’re told what the budget is, they’re told what their labor is, and then they meet with directors and come up with what the show is going to look like and sound like. My responsibility is to shepherd that design process through.”
The window display at 721 Broadway rotates year-round. Stop on by to get a closer look!