In the heart of Buffalo, Ujima Company is taking audiences on a gripping journey with its latest production—a contemporary and thought provoking adaptation of the award-winning play and film,12 Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose. 12 Mo’ Angry Men, written and directed by Buffalo native TaNisha Fordham, skillfully transports the narrative to present-day America, infusing it with a powerful resonance that speaks directly to the challenges and complexities of our times.
Fordham, an emerging writer, director, performer, and producer, has deep roots in Buffalo. After working on Broadway’s recent revival of Company, she returns to Buffalo with her original adaptation of Rose’s story, asking the audience to consider pressing issues of justice, race, and systemic bias.
The plot of this production revolves around the deliberations of a jury of 11 black jurors and 1 white juror tasked with determining the guilt or innocence of a white police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old black teen. In a society grappling with heightened awareness of police brutality and racial injustice, Fordham’s adaptation promises to be an electrifying exploration of the complexities surrounding such cases.
Fordham’s inspiration for the piece came during the pandemic. “Most people are familiar with 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose, and during the pandemic I was doing a lot of distance cycling and listening to audiobooks while I was doing it,” shared Fordam.
And so one day, I found myself listening to 12 Angry Men, and I was struck. I mean, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. How relevant that piece was and is, in light of what was happening in the country at that time with the murdering of Brianna Taylor [and] Ahmad Arbury. And that’s just like continuing the list of people who have faced all different types of injustices… I always feel like I can’t not do anything… I’m a writer. I’m a director. This is what I can do. And so I wrote in light of that, kind of how I felt that case or deliberation would go if it were happening modern day in Mississippi… in Jackson, because, of course what was required in order for this piece to work where eleven black jurors and one white juror are deliberating on the guilt or innocence of a white officer who shot and killed a black teen, what would be necessary is, like, why would there be 11 black jurors? Like where in the United States are we, that there are so many black people on this case? And so I did research, about what parts of the country have that dense of a black population that that would realistically, that that could potentially realistically happen. And so that’s where we landed in Mississippi.
Ujima Company, known for its commitment to presenting works that reflect the African-American experience, continues to enact its mission with Fordham’s adaptation. The decision to set this classic story in the current socio-political climate amplifies the play’s impact, inviting audiences to engage in crucial conversations about justice, inequality, and the role of race in our legal system.
“I think at the heart of it, the creation of the piece is about community,” Fordham said. “It’s about how we show up for each other in community, or how we don’t show up for each other in community. It’s about an opportunity to bring people who may not be a part of the community into the fold, and what that would do to heal some of these very toxic repeating cycles. How we’re not going to be able to heal as a world and as a nation without being able to see the humanity in folks first and foremost. And that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have questions or that we still don’t agree, but that we have to stop and take a second to see like the person that I’m having a conversation with feels as visceral about whatever they feel as I do.”
12 Mo’ Angry Men has been performed a number of times, and the reaction to the piece has always started conversations. During the initial run of the play, Fordham would facilitate talkbacks afterward, and was always surprised by the conversations that the play inspired. Her work truly seems to bring the original intent of the source material into the 21st century. “Reginald Rose’s son, Jonathan came to our off Broadway run and just said that he felt like it was like honoring the legacy of the work, and his father would have been [proud,] which is always so great to hear,” shared Fordham.
12 Mo’ Angry Men runs December 1-17 on The Lorna C. Hill stage at Ujima Company. Tickets are available here.
