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A landmark American drama that inspired a classic film and a Broadway revival--featuring an introduction by David MametA blistering character study and an examination of the American melting pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check, Twelve Angry Men holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture to form of them--and of America, at its best and worst. After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

New York, summer 1954 Criminal Courts Building A man is dead The life of another is at stake A "guilty" verdict seems a foregone conclusion. But one member of the jury has the will to probe more deeply into the evidence and the courage to confront the ignorance and the prejudice of some of his fellow jurors. The conflict which follows is fierce and passionate, cutting straight to the heart of the issues of civil liberties and social justice. This edition was published to coincide with the new production directed by Harold Pinter which opened in the West End in 1996.

A young delinquent is on trial for the murder of his aggressive father. The judge has directed the jury to find the boy guilty if there is no reasonable doubt. Eleven of the jurors declare there is no reasonable doubt, but one of them, while far from convinced of the boy's innocence, feels that some of the evidence against him has been ambiguous. At the end of a long afternoon he wins, all the others round to his view.

The year: 1937. The setting: New York City’s turbulent Upper West Side. It is the author’s sixteenth year, remembered vividly, from his last months in high school to his first overwhelmingly monotonous full-time job, to his seventeenth birthday. One dazzling, sometimes frightening year. His friends, his loves, his coming of age are recreated here hilariously, intimately, shockingly. There were exciting adventures to be had in New York every day, among them the stunning revelation that more girls than the author believed possible were willing (sometimes eager) to take him to bed. Or vice versa. Life was rich and full and funny in 1937, and the author lived it with ravenous appetite.Author Biography: Reginald Rose began his writing career in the Golden Age of live television drama and has continued to write for television, motion pictures and theatre. His best known work includes Twelve Angry Men and the acclaimed television series, The Defenders. He has won three Emmy Awards, the Writers Guild of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Berlin Festival’s Golden Bear Award, the Mystery Writers of America’s coveted Edgar and Raven awards and many others. He has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, two Oscars and a Golden Globe Award. Twelve Angry Men, reshaped for the stage, has been playing at theatres all over the world since its Paris premiere in 1960 and has been translated into fourteen languages. Born and raised in New York City, Mr. Rose served in the U.S. Army for four years during World War II. He currently resides in Connecticut.

The Methuen Drama Student Edition of Twelve Angry Men is the first critical edition of Reginald Rose’s play, providing the play text alongside commentary and notes geared towards student readers.In New York, 1954, a man is dead and the life of another is at stake. A 'guilty' verdict seems a foregone conclusion, but one member of the jury has the will to probe more deeply into the evidence and the courage to confront the ignorance and prejudice of some of his fellow jurors. The conflict that follows is fierce and passionate, cutting straight to the heart of the issues of civil liberties and social justice. Ideal for the student reader, the accompanying pedagogical notes include elements such as an author chronology; plot summary; suggested further reading; explanatory endnotes; and questions for further study. The introduction discusses in detail the play's origins as a 1954 American television play, Rose's re-working of the piece for the stage, and Lumet's 1957 film version, identifying textual variations between these versions and discussing later significant productions. The commentary also situates the play in relation to the genre of courtroom drama, as a milestone in the development of televised drama, and as an engagement with questions of American individualism and democracy. Together, this provides students with an edition that situates the play in its contemporary social and dramatic contexts, while encouraging reflection on its wider thematic implications.