THEATER TIME

Took the boys tonight to see 12 Angry Jurors, a laboratory play presented by the University of South Carolina Theater Department. Based upon the Reginald Rose teleplay, the performers did a very good job and the crowd seemd pleased with the effort. Both boys were well entertained and enjoyed it; they said they would be interested in seeing more plays. Presented in the cozy Benson Theater (in a former public school purchased by the university) that I never knew existed---with perhaps seventy-five seats, the showing was sold out. Glad someone at work suggested that I show up right at 730 to get tickets. We were lucky and had seats in the front row; I could easily have touched the actors. Overall they performed well, with the expected small gaffes and less-than-smooth pacing of amateurs, but the missteps were tiny and easily overlooked when considering the entire production. The set was simple, but perfect. The only thing rang wrong to me was their calling a swithblade a "switch knife," though that may have been more common during the 40's or 50s. I was told that the department puts on a lot of plays, many of them for free. I will be checking out their website more often. Bravo!