Märkisches Gymnasium

The Eleven Jurors

Literature Course Q1

Horst Budjuhn’s play “12 Angry Men” is set in a jury room in New York in the 1950s. Twelve jurors must reach a unanimous verdict on the guilt or innocence of a young defendant accused of murdering his father – the stakes are the death penalty or acquittal. What appears to be a clear-cut case develops into a tense debate in which prejudices, personal histories and social stereotypes come to the fore, whilst a single juror gradually sows reasonable doubt. For the literature course, the play has been adapted under the title ‘The Eleven Jurors’. Reducing the cast to eleven characters sharpens the focus on the different attitudes in the room: navigating between anger, indifference, fear, idealism and a sense of responsibility, the play becomes a lesson in democracy, moral courage and the duty to weigh things up carefully before deciding a person’s fate.

Duration: approx. 30–40 minutes

Director: Sabine Becker

Written and performed by: Burak Altinsu, Taha Boussetta, Emirhan Cerci, Acun Ceylan, Safouane El Messaoudi, Mehmet Kaya, Atalay Keskin, Atakan Okur, Ferhat Sahin, Burak Sarikaya, Muhammed Spahic