`12 ANGRY MEN' PUTS LAW, JURIES IN FOCUS : THE FACTS.

Byline: Victoria Giraud People and Places

``Twelve Angry Men'' - or in this case nine angry men and three angry women - is the taut, emotional drama featured at the Arts Council Center until Sunday. It's well worth your time, especially after all the controversial trials that have been part of our local and national history the past few years.

This play, the shortest, most concise three-act production I've seen in a long time, proves how juries can really care enough to render a just verdict. But that's far from the case when the play opens.

Taking place entirely within the jury room, this mixture of Americans circa 1955 are deliberating the fate of a 19-year-old ghetto kid, accused of murdering his father. It's summer, and the jury room is hot and humid, further exacerbating tempers that flare from time to time as the jury members reveal their characters.

As the play opens most of the jurors declare they feel the kid is definitely guilty; there's nothing left to argue. Juror No. 7 (a fiery, bombastic John Moskel) loudly proclaims he's ready to vote guilty since he's got tickets to a baseball game. Juror No. 3 (the versatile and eloquent Kelly Vincent) has personal experience with teen-age sons, and he's ready to convict, easily transferring his pent-up anger from his personal life to that of the defendant.

Juror No. 10 (a bellicose Palmer Scott) doesn't hide his racist views, he just knows the kid had to have committed a crime. A gentle-voiced Juror No. 9 (played with restraint by Tim Holtwick) is more understanding. Juror No. 4 (a well-rounded performance by Ronald Rezac) assumes a role of experienced reason. Intelligently played by Pamela Canton, Juror No. 2, wants to share her wisdom gained from being an immigrant.

It's Juror No. 8 (in a sensitive and powerful performance by Jean Waller) that becomes the voice of conscience - the role played by Henry Fonda in the movie of the same name. She urges her co-jurors to contemplate and question their quick judgments; she is not convinced the boy is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

From the first prick of doubt to the exciting and dramatic conclusion, the play keeps you thinking as Juror No. 8 thoughtfully creates doubt in the minds of her fellow jurors. What seems so simple on the surface was only illusion. When held up to probing scrutiny, the theories fall apart.

It's a dynamic unfolding by a very competent group of actors well-led by director Michael Jordan. The remaining jurors are played by: Edward T. Buckle, Doug Yank, Steve Brown, Elyse Ashton, Steve Brown and S. Joel Myerson.

Victoria Giraud welcomes comments and suggestions for columns. Call her at [phone].

WHAT: ``Twelve Angry Men'' by Reginald Rose, stage version by Sherman L. Sergei presented by Gothic Productions

WHEN: Today and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Arts Council Center, 482 Greenmeadow Drive, Thousand Oaks 

COST: $10 adults. $8 students

INFORMATION: [phone]

CAPTION(S):

Box

Box: THE FACTS (Ran in Conejo edition only)