Suffolk Theater will present its first live theatrical production, ‘12 Angry Men,’ this month

Ever since the historic art deco Suffolk Theater on Main Street in Riverhead reopened to the public as a performing arts center in 2013, it has been home to concerts, movies, comedy shows, events and one-man shows.

But now, the theater is making a giant leap, producing its first full-scale play: “12 Angry Men.”

The play is about 12 jurors in a Manhattan courthouse tasked with deciding the death penalty case of a teenage boy accused of murdering his father. Tensions run high as a lone dissenting juror questions the evidence presented in the case, and challenges the biases and prejudices of the other jurors. The play explores the complexities of reasonable doubt and heroism in the pursuit of justice.

“One of the things that I loved about the film… is that you can put 12 men around the table, and have it be so riveting and exciting and dramatic and passionate and heartbreaking,” said Gary Hygom, the Suffolk Theater’s executive director. 

The show was first written by Reginald Rose as a teleplay in 1954 and was adapted in 1957 into a film starring Henry Fonda. The film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Academy Awards, and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

There will be three performances: March 28 at 8 p.m., March 29 at 8 p.m. and March 30 at 2 p.m..

Hygom, who designed the set for the show, has wanted to produce a play at the theater since he became its executive director three years ago. The pieces fell into place this year, he said. The Suffolk Theater stage is smaller than a typical stage, which makes it difficult to do scene changes; “12 Angry Men,” however, takes place in one room and has no scene changes. 

“It is one of the perfect pieces for what this country is going through at the moment,” Hygom said. “And I think there are lessons to be learned by, not only the piece, but how it relates to everything going on in the world and some of the bigotry that has arisen.”

Hygom tapped Joe Minutillo, a theater educator and seasoned Long Island director who he collaborated with while at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, to mount the production.

“Our justice system is under attack. I mean, let’s face it, it is,” Minutillo said. “We need to recognize that it’s the cornerstone of our democracy: the fact that people like you and I are chosen to… try a person fairly.”

“It’s not one person saying anything. It’s not a dictatorship — yet,” Minutillo said. “So I think that it is very, very important to be reminded about that. It’s important to be reminded that… it’s special, and it’s fragile and can be easily taken away.”

The play — “full of male energy,” Minutillo said — is being produced as a 1950s period piece with an all-male cast. “Today, we do have a lot of angry men,” Minutillo added. 

“There’s not many pieces — not many dramatic pieces — that have been done in the ’50s that still resonate in the 2020s,” Hygom said. “and all of the viewpoints and all the opinions and all of those characters still hold true to this day.”

Hygom also wanted a play that could be educational — and “12 Angry Men” is a piece of theater regularly taught in some English classes, and is about the justice and legal system. The theater will host 1,400 students from middle school and high schools across Long Island for special weekday performances, he said. 

All of those performances, as well as the weekend performances, will be followed by talk-back question and answer sessions with judges on the East End, Hygom said.

Hygom said the play has “generated interest and excitement” in a lot of the theater’s regular patrons. The production has a “stellar cast,” he said. The cast features Michael Bertolini, Mike Boland, Matt Conlon, Phil Eberhardt, Josh Gladstone, Randall Hemming, Christopher Lecrenn, Jerome Foster Lewis, Brian McCready, Paul Novello, Dayne Rasmussen, Paul Velutis and Nick Zappetti, according to a press release from the theater.

Hygom hopes that “12 Angry Men” is only the start of theater expanding its performance repertoire. He hopes to produce other plays at the theater, something that will only get easier when the theater’s stage and backstage are expanded as a part of a planned expansion to the rear of the building. 

Tickets for “12 Angry Men” at the Suffolk Theater are available at its website, thesuffolk.org.