Though the arduous experience of jury duty isn't something that many people want to experience, Basement Arts’s new play, “12,” makes the experience actually enjoyable. The director, LSA senior Lincoln Boehm, adapted it from the original teleplay “Twelve Angry Men” by Reginald Rose with changes that allowed for a co-ed cast.

The show follows 12 white jurors who must decide whether a black man is guilty of patricide. They immediately vote guilty, with the exception of one juror who convinces the others to think logically and put their prejudices aside.

“Something that’s really cool about this play, more so than any other play, is that there is an immense transformation of each character from the first to last page,” said Boehm, who is also an opinion columnist for the Daily. “When they first come into the juror’s room they know nothing about each other, but they develop these unique relationships that are very telling about who they are.”

Each juror retains an air of anonymity as none are ever named — only numbered — throughout the production.

 Thomas Wolfson, a Music, Theatre & Dance senior who plays Juror 4, commented on his character’s contributions to the group dynamics.

“I play a man who is less guided by his emotions and more by his intellect,” Wolfson said. “It’s sort of my function to be the voice of reason in many circumstances, although I do believe the boy is guilty.”

Boehm has been passionate about this play since high school, when he picked it for a report simply because it was first alphabetically.

“I sat down with it one night not really knowing what I was getting myself into, and then an hour and a half later my eyes were glued to the text,” Boehm said. “I think it’s a really captivating play and it’s something that draws the audience in.”

Having worked in television, Boehm has done well in translating what was originally a television production into a staged play.

“I’ve worked for Conan O’Brien for the past two years, and have had experience working with directors in television,” Boehm said. “The staging and everything in ‘12’ has more of a producing-for-film-and-television feel to it than the stage. That’s an exciting thing about showing it here, very few have seen ‘Twelve Angry Men’ produced onstage.”

According to Wolfson, the cast of “12” is composed of some of the most talented students in the University's Performance BFA program including Joey Richter, a School of Music, Theatre, & Dance junior who performed in previous Basement Arts productions “Me and My Dick” and “A Very Potter Musical.”

“This is one of the most excellent casts I’ve seen assembled in the Basement Arts program. I think a lot of people will realize that — that super group of actors,” Wolfson said. “There’s a lot of actors in the cast that I’ve known for many years, so we can sort of all finish each others sentences and can predict each other's moves."

“While the cast is upperclassman-heavy, we do have freshmen and sophomores too,” Boehm added. “It is a diverse cast, and they have made my job as a director that much easier. A lot of these people have put their egos aside to take smaller supporting roles, just because of the opportunity to work with everyone that is in this show.”

While Studio One of the Walgreen Drama Center may not always be the ideal set for multiple-setting plays, it has worked very well for “12.”

“As far as representing a claustrophobic jury room in real time, I thought it was perfect,” Boehm said. “There will also be filmed aspects in the show, so it’s kind of a multimedia production. We’ve got a very strong set that (has) been designed from grants that we’ve gotten, which not many Basement shows can do.”

One thing that Boehm is sure of is that the audience members will not be checking their phones constantly to see when they can leave.

“You don’t want people to come see a show and wish they weren’t there.