Performance Complimentary and Open to the Public on February 2

Bo Bollinger, (right) Coordinator of Theater and Event Services at Columbia State will perform in the upcoming production of 12 Angry Men.


(Columbia, Tenn. - January 26, 2011) - - - Columbia State Community College's Lyceum Committee in conjunction with the Humanities and Social Sciences Division will host The Maury County Arts Guild production of 12 Angry Men on Wednesday, February 2 at 9:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. in the Cherry Theater located in the Waymon L. Hickman building on the Columbia Campus. This thoughtful and probing play examines the power of the judicial system and the value of the jury in coming to consensual decisions in capital murder cases. The event is free and open to the public.

This play was composed by Reginald Rose in the 1950's. The idea was prompted by an incident in Rose's own life when he served on a jury for a murder case. The play is adapted by The Maury County Arts Guild to include female and male characters making it "12 Angry Persons." The ideas of the play translate brilliantly across gender lines in the notion that decisions about capital punishment are serious, continuing, and always a matter for community concern. The play centers around the issue of doubt regarding the guilt of a man on trial for murder. The subject of the deliberations is not seen; instead the play focuses on the 12 members of the jury as they wrangle with the fears, issues and doubts surrounding the case.

"Rose was one of a set of bright and articulate writers who began writing for television during the golden age of the 50's where scripts were king, action was live, and strong Broadway actors received their first American exposure on television," said Dr. Stuart Lenig, Professor of Communications and Drama at Columbia State. "By the mid-fifties Alfred Hitchcock had developed the half-hour and later hour-long drama/mystery into an art form that survives to this day, and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez developed the concept of the sitcom. However, it was writers like Rose (The Defenders), Paddy Chayefsky (Network, The Hospital), and Rod Serling (Requiem for a Heavyweight, Twilight Zone, Seven Days in May) who wrote brilliant television dramas."

The play features many of the Arts Guild's fine rotating company of players including Bo Bollinger, Coordinator of Theater and Event Services at Columbia State. Bollinger has served as performer, technician and director for many Arts Guild productions including as actor in The Crucible; director of August Wilson's Tony Award winning Fences; and as actor/director of his own play, LBJ, which is a scintillating portrayal of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. This production of 12 Angry Men is directed by Sarah Kennedy, a current Columbia State student. The cast includes several former and present Columbia State students. Ricky Turner provides another deep character study.

For more information, contact Dr. Stuart Lenig, Professor of Communications and Drama at Columbia State at (931) 540-2877 or by emailing slenig@columbiastate.edu.

Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the sixth largest higher education system in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.

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