The Russellville Arts Council will hold open auditions to an adaptation of the classic courtroom drama with 12 Angry People...featuring a cast for both males and females featuring mature teens and adults of different ages.

The auditions will be on Monday, Sept. 11, and Tuesday, Sept. 12, starting at 7 each evening at the historic Logan County Courthouse in Russellville (which will be the site of the performance on the first weekend of November).

The production will be directed by Larry Vaught.

The synopsis of the gripping play describes the deliberation of a jury for the trial of a 19-year-old man has just stood trial for the fatal stabbing of his father. "He doesn't stand a chance," mutters the guard as the 12 jurors are taken into the bleak jury room. It looks like an open-and-shut case—until one of the jurors begins opening the others' eyes to the facts.

"This is a remarkable thing about democracy," says the foreign-born juror, "that we are notified by mail to come down to this place—and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man; of a man we have not known before. We have nothing to gain or lose by our verdict. We should not make it a personal thing."

But personal it does become, with each juror revealing his or her own character as the various testimonies are re-examined, the murder is re-enacted and a new murder threat is born before their eyes! Tempers get short, arguments grow heated.

The jurors' final verdict and how they reach it—in tense scenes that will electrify the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats—add up to a fine, mature piece of dramatic literature that will have your audience thinking for a lifetime.

For information, email larryvaught2015@gmail.com or call 270-977-5823.