Ladies and gentlemen, the Apopka Drama department presents… 12 Angry Jurors! This incredible school production will be held in the auditorium on the nights of September 29th and 30th. The play is about 12 jurors that decide on a case of a 19-year-old man that killed his father. As it begins, most of the jurors agree, except for one, that provides “the other side” of the story. See how the arguments unfold and the opinions change in this show.

It’s time to go behind the scenes and break down the challenges faced by the crew and all the hard work that was put into this amazing production. The stage manager, Andrea Ochoa a Sophomore here at Apopka, mentioned the challenges many of the departments have faced while in preparations saying, “Mainly the canceling of events, like ‘oh we aren’t going to be here this day, then that day,’ and we are running out of time to do stuff.” Now, the canceling of a few work days here and there can’t be all bad. Right? Well, maybe if there was a larger time frame to work on the show, the cast and crew only have “6 weeks to work on [the production], that is very short. It’s a lot faster-paced than we are used to. We normally get around two months to work on [our past productions], and with this one we are getting about a month and a half.”  Andrea wasn’t the only one to mention how short the time slot to prepare was, Anna Bryant, a Junior here at APK and the head of props, spoke on the canceling of the “last two Saturday workdays has been a real struggle.” For some context, the Drama Club meets every Saturday to work on tech-related things such as sound, lighting, props, set design, costumes, hair, and makeup. Then, during the week that’s when rehearsals occur, you catch the actors rehearsing lines and movements in the auditorium under the directions of Mr. Morphew.

When it comes to the technical aspects of theater, there tends to be a bit more danger, complexity, and certainly a lot of moving around. Brooke Ripley, a Junior and the Master Tech in charge of lights, speaks on a software update with the lights, “We have a brand new software in lights and that has created quite a challenge for [me and] my lighting crew.” Not only is she teaching her crew lights, but she is also teaching herself the new software. Tech was forced to change everything they had learned in previous years about lights. They had to start completely over with a completely new system, and everything relied on a computer instead of just being able to use the old lighting board in the booth. Plus, with the shorter time period to learn everything the stress is on the light crew, as the show date gets closer, they are having to quickly adjust to these new lights.

Of course, not only is the crew struggling, but the cast is having a few struggles, as well. Aiden Pickard, Senior and cast member playing Juror number 8, said lines have been difficult for him, “Sometimes they repeat the same thing over and over again, sometimes we do them in a different order. I’m working on it [though], it’s working.” On the other hand, Vladimir Boevers, another cast member playing Juror number 10 mentions his success in his lines so far, “I feel prepared for the show, lines wise. I’ve memorized majority of it and I feel well prepared I just gotta work on the cues and stuff.” The Blue and White asked Vlad to give a description of his character, as his character is considered the most “interesting” according to the cast and crew, “My character is a really big racist in the 50s, he thinks this kid is guilty, no matter what.” Anna Bryant, also a cast member playing juror number 3 feels “unprepared” due to falling sick for a few days and not feeling “like doing schoolwork or lines.” However, she has no worries about getting caught up, she has inspiring confidence and devotion to the production.

The cast and crew put so much time and devotion went into the making of this play, “they stayed after school and they stay on weekends. Many should definitely come check it out,” says Anna Bryant. For those that do come, there are many things to look out for while watching, “You should look out for little details that the actors put in that you might not notice because I think there are a lot of hidden meanings in the show.” With all these deeper meanings and understanding you’ll find the show more “enjoyable” as Anna says. Tickets are available now at Teachtix.com, $11 for a standard ticket and $6 for a student ticket. The show starts at 6:30 PM on the 29th and 30th in the Apopka High School auditorium.