Trisha is thrilled to be working with Mt. Hood Rep on their staged reading series. She graduated with a BA in theater from Reed College in 1999, where she directed a production of Calderon de la Barca’s Life is a Dream as her thesis production. July of 2002 witnessed her professional directing debut, a production of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood at Portland’s Hollywood Theatre. This fall, she was very proud to work as an assistant director to Michael Lasswell on his world premiere adaptation of HL Davis’ Honey in the Horn at Artists Repertory Theatre. She would like to thank Tobias Andersen and this astonishing group of actors for taking a leap of faith with her in producing this venerable “old warhorse” for you this evening.

Why Twelve Angry Men?

As a live Studio 1 teleplay that was turned into a movie and then into a stage play, Twelve Angry Men is an interesting twist on this year’s theme of “Stage to Screen”, since in this case the “stage” was actually a television sound stage. Since its first production it has been revered for its taut structure and impassioned exploration of the very human and fallible face of justice. It has been used as a case study for student lawyers, team building and communications experts and of course, high school English teachers across the country. It is also incredibly unlikely that it will see a professional production in this region due to its age and unusually large cast requirements.

As such, it is the perfect choice for a staged reading. The action in the play is minimal, but the characterizations are vibrant and engaging, easy to get a quick handle on, but with endless depths to explore. And who could resist the opportunity to explore , with a smart and passionate group of actors, the tensions between ideal of “Justice”, with its objective reckoning of the facts, and the more human justice that is a messy, emotional, and often personal negotiation between strangers who have better places to be.