WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Hillsdale Academy Presents: 12 Angry Men

Episode Date: November 2, 2025

Hillsdale Academy presents 12 Angry Men on November 8, at 2pm and 7pm. Director Kathryn Wales and actors Zane Socha and Robert Whalen joins Emily Schutte and WRFH to preview the show. Tickets are available here.

Welcome to this interview with Catherine Wales, Zane Soha, and Robert Whalen. Today we are discussing the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Men. I'm your host, Emily Shuddy. Welcome to the studio, everyone. I'm so excited to hear about this production. First of all, could you tell me what's the production and when, where, author, all of those fun things? Absolutely. Hillsdale Academy is putting on 12 Angry Men, the 1954 show that was turned into the beloved

1957 film. We're putting it on in the plaster auditorium on November 8th, Saturday, November 8th. We have two shows, 2 o'clock and 7 p.m. Please go to Hillsdale Academy Presents. Dot ludus, L-U-D-U-S dot com to get tickets. They're $8. And this show is PG-13 for thematic material in some language. So be careful about the age of the kids you bring, I suppose, up to the parents' discretion. And would you call this play a comedy, a drama? What is the genre that we're looking at? I'm trying to cut down on the comedy.

We're having a lot of fun rehearsing this because it's 12 boys who all enjoy one another very much. So, you know, stay in character. Stay in character. It is a drama. It's in some ways even a thriller. I mean, it's very suspenseful. It's a story about a jury deliberating over whether or not a 16-year-old boy has murdered his father.

And in the beginning, only one out of the 12 votes not guilty just to have a chance to talk about it because otherwise he goes to the electric chair. How about you go boys? Tell me, what are your kids? characters. Why don't you tell me your name? And then what are your characters in this play? Yeah, I'm Zane Soha and I'm playing juror number three. And if you've ever seen the movie, he's the antagonist of the story. I abstain from saying not guilty until the very end. And basically, I being the man who challenges Robert the whole time, I'm a bit, I guess,

traumatized because I have had similar events in my life with a boy, my son. He's 16 years old, who was 16 years old when he left me. And based on those past traumas, I desperately want to see justice fulfilled to this kid, not because of any rightful or lawful reasons, what because of personal and moral reasons, whether they are wrong or not. I'm Robert Waylon. I'm juror number eight, who is as close as you get, I guess, to a protagonist in the story. He is the only juror at the beginning of the play to vote not guilty. And he does so not because he believes the boy is innocent, but just to give the boy a chance because the consequence if it is voted guilty for this boy is that he goes to the electric chair.

And so juror number eight wants to give this boy a chance to look at all of the facts again and really delve into whether or not he committed the murder. So it's like a case in which the jurors are actually, he's trying to push the people to actually think about it as opposed to just sloughing it off to the side. Exactly. He really shows a lot of the jurors how much prejudice and bias gets in the way of the truth. Catherine, could you tell me a little bit about your choices as the direct. director, what are some things that you have done with this performance? And are you trying to stick to some of the more traditional ways of performing this? Or do you have some different visions about how to present this production? Well, I first encountered this story when I was in high school

and my dad was watching it in the living room. And I passed by, he said, hey, sit down. You got to watch this. I was like, ugh, it's black and away. And he's like, sit. down you need to see this movie. So I did. And I've probably seen it 10 times since then. It's one of my very favorite stories. And I've always wanted to do it as a play. And last year when we did Le Miserables, Zain was our Jean Valjean on that show, there was such great camaraderie among the boys on the barricade that I just sort of saw like, whoa, we could capitalize on that and maybe do this show with 12 boys. I was open to having girls maybe play men, but I didn't want to do it as 12 angry jurors because I think it's actually very important that they're all men and that that's

one of the themes of the story is what is masculinity, what are different types of men. Also, the jury system is somewhat based on the apostles, the 12 apostles. And I was found that interesting as well. So I was waiting for the right time to do the show. And it just became clear let's try it now. And it fits better into our fall calendar because it's simple and as much as it's just one setting. It's just the one table and the chairs. And so there's not a lot of extra work that goes into the set design or anything like that. It's really just falls on the boys to learn the lines and learn the cues and really listen to one another well. And I thought that would be a good challenge for them. I mean, we're playing it as straight as we can as close to the

movie. I really love the movie. I think it's a beautiful work of art. And so I encourage them all to watch it before auditioning, so they would know right just what it is. But of course, they, these 12 boys are going to bring their own sort of interpretation of the characters. And I love that. I love saying those layers. So yeah, it's very much our production of 12 Angry Men. And we're really excited to share it with the community. This is a reminder that you're listening to an interview with Zane Soha, Robert Waylon, and Catherine Wales discussing the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Men. I'm Emily Shodyon, Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Robert and Zane, what have been some of your experiences working with an all-male cast as opposed to having a mixed cast and what have been

maybe some of your favorite experiences and what have been some challenges that you faced? It's 100% so much harder in a lot of ways than Lamez, maybe not because of the singing and acting, but because it's hard to get things done. It's just someone quips a joke and then the whole cast erupts in laughter and nope, that took 15 minutes. So that's a challenge 100%. But on the plus side, that's a good challenge to have. I mean, we're all very together in this and though it is very difficult with the cues memorizing the lines and delivering the lines in a manner that makes sense in a way that sounds good, it's a difficult play. But even with that, the camaraderie that the guys have is awesome.

It's almost like a sports team, which is interesting because, you know, we're the drama kids. We're the weird guys, you know. And so we've just been going at it. And it's been really tough. I'm not going to lie. This play is coming together. It was coming together very slowly. And it was.

We only rehearse once a week. Yeah, that's true. It was also with time constraints that made it very difficult. When you say tough, what do you mean by tough? Like, what has made it challenging? to you. The main part is it's a full dialogue, but it's not like Shakespeare. It's different in its own right in the fact that there are certain cues, certain lies, especially lines that you have to interrupt and object and convey this angry emotion or you have to stand, move around,

look, interact with other people. You can't just know your lines. You have to know your lines and almost everyone else's. And to do that, you know, you know, you know your lines and almost everyone else's. And to do that in a way that makes sense and doesn't look like you're constantly thinking about what's the next line, but it looks natural, like a natural dialogue. That's probably the most challenging aspect of it. Yeah, you really have to know the whole play, the whole script, forwards and backwards to make it look natural and like it's really happening. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of guys sitting there saying random lines back and forth. You really need to know your lines along with everyone else's to really make a good natural representation of the play.

So when you go out on stage, even in rehearsals, what are some ways that help you to make it more natural in that way that you're talking about? I think really putting yourself in the place of your character has helped me a lot. It's difficult. Zane and I have some scenes when we're face-to-face looking straight into each other's eyes, and it's super difficult to keep a straight face in those superclimactic moments. But it really helps me to put myself really in the place of the character, to really try to think like him, not just act like him, but really be that character and become emotional the way he is about it so that you're really, you're really bought into the character,

not just playing him, but really embodying him. You can't act the part in this. You have to become the part in a lot of ways. Otherwise, it's just not going to work. How has that differed from other productions that you've done? I know Catherine mentioned that you've done Le Miz recently. How has that been different for you? It's the same in the aspect that in order for it to be really good,

you really have to put yourself in their shoes. It's different to the point where it's not just singing a song and basically making your own cues. Cues are very obvious because you're able to move around acts. You convey emotion in just a more obvious way. in this it's a lot of broken men who are angry in their own right talking to each other some of them maybe hiding emotion some of them are trying to see more reserved but then they let an out burst out and it's just very difficult in that respect to convey very real human

emotion because especially in Les Mez most of the emotion was to the extreme right it's like I'm really really sad or I'm really ashamed I'm picking myself back up We're going through, we're going forward. And this, it's a lot more skewed, like, cloudy. So I'd say that's the biggest difference. This is a reminder that you're listening to an interview with Zane Zoha, Robert Whalen, and Catherine Wales discussing the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Men. I'm Emily Shodyon, Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM. What has been something from this play?

I think this is a question for all of you that has really stuck with you. and you think we'll stick with you after this, and you think maybe the audience should take away. In my character, he is the only person at the beginning who votes not guilty. He has to stand up for a good bit of the play by himself against the ridicule of the other 11 jurors. And that really hit me when I first got this character, seeing how much courage it takes to stand by yourself against a group of other people, especially in a position like his where he could very possibly be wrong at the beginning.

It seems like he's wrong. But really standing up for what he thinks is just and is right brings its own reward. And he doesn't have to look for the approval of others. If he is doing what is right, it will come in its own time. Yeah, I'm the antagonist, right? So I'm not standing up for what is right necessarily. that it is interesting the aspect of past experiences and traumas really dictating how you can affect other people, especially in this case where it's as extreme as I'm sending this kid to the chair and I'm happy with that.

I'm fine with that. I want him to go. But why? Why do I want that? It's because my own kid is doing his own thing. You just hurt me a lot. I gave a lot to him or at least I thought I did. I did my best, but he doesn't care. And so I'm like, this kid obviously also doesn't care. So let's just send him away. He's not going to get better. There's no seeing of grace, I suppose. There's no mercy. And it's just, this is how the human condition is. This is how people are. I really love Zane in this role because it's almost as if what if Jean Valjean had managed to reach Javert? Like you're sort of both of those characters at once. But it's actually, so we're Robert's character inspiring that kind of transformation and you let it happen. Javert never lets

it happen, right? But this one, this one does and that's really fascinating to me. And yeah, and this, it's really the power of denial is a major theme. I mean, Zane's character says in the beginning, I have no personal business here. He actually says that. We come to see that, no, this is a completely personal sort of vendetta for him. And, uh, So that, it's just great to see the ways in which these shows build on one another. And in my case, a lot of the actors that are in this show have done many shows over the years, some of them coming from Hillsdale Classical, the Linley Boys, William Schleeder. Like, they've done so many shows with me at this point to just see how much they,

the layers of those other characters coming into the room is a delight for me. and also my eldest son is in the show. And so the personal part for me is getting to see him at the age I was when I first saw the film, actually get to put it on. This is a reminder that you're listening to an interview with Zane Zoha, Robert Whalen, and Catherine Wales discussing the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Men.

I'm Emily Shodian, Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM. Okay, so you guys have any particularly funny stories from prepping for this production? Well, there is a line in the second act to where I am reenacting how the boy would have stabbed his father. And I am a little bit taller than Robert. And so I have to get shorter than him. And so I have to do this really awkward squat.

And then I say a line that causes a break every time. I say, I'm about six or seven inches shorter than you. right? And it's written in the book. You know, I have to say it. And like, of course, we could admit it, but I feel like that would be dishonest to the point. And so every time that that line comes around, number one, I'm squatting down looking like an idiot. And number two, I have to say, I'm six or seven inches shorter than you, right? And it's just... It's very relevant. It's very timely. And that always causes a break. That's good. I'm sure you'll get some laps for that one. We don't want that.

Yeah, I hope not. This is like a climax of the play. I hope there are laughs happening at it. No, it's a really powerful scene, too. It's like an important scene. It is. Hopefully, hopefully the pathos of the scene can overcome the meme of the present day. Yes, exactly.

Yeah. This is a reminder that you're listening to an interview with Zane Zoha, Robert Whalen, and Catherine Wales, discussing the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Angry Mears. I'm Emily Chodion, Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. You've kind of given me pretty much the overall, overarching story plot line. What is something that you think would be really good reason for people to come to this production? I think you've given me a lot of those, but like if you could say one thing about this production that would convince someone on the air to come to it, what would you say? Well, it's really a story of justice, being, giving the man the

benefit of the doubt and seeing that not everything is just a clear painted line of good and evil. It's maybe there are some aspects of this which are right. Maybe there are some which are wrong. How can we judge so quickly? And it really gives you time to think like this is why like we have this system, the system with jury is so that we're not just quickly sending people to die or judging people. quickly. We're really taking in the data. We're taking in all the facts we're looking at and giving a fair and just judgment for it. It's interesting on the aspect of human nature to where we do have to judge and we do sometimes have to be the enforcer of the law. And sometimes that really hurts. And it takes a lot of gumption.

for an eighth juror to stand up and say, wait, let's look at this, let's see what actually is going on. So I really think it's a good depiction of giving people the benefit of the doubt and seeing the actual goodness in people. I think also that anyone who comes to this play can sympathize with at least one of the characters. I think everyone can find a similarity in at least one of the characters to themselves. and it's a good way to kind of take a step back and see someone like you put in a tough situation and see their reactions, which would most likely be very similar to yours. I think you can come to know yourself better through this play

and come to see your own faults along with strengths, recognize them and learn from this play a lot. I would say it's going to be good for your soul to come and see 12, teenage boys in the year 2025 do such justice to the story. I mean, they're really, they're doing a great job. And I feel like I just want to share my perspective with the whole town. You've got to come and see what these kids have put together. I mean, I'm just so impressed with, with them. And I know it's, it's a little rocky right now. We had a rehearsal last night where there were a lot of dropped lines. And I was just like, blah. But next week is show week. And that's where all these things come

together. So I'm confident that by the time we get to next Saturday, it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be something you do not want to miss. So please come out. I think one thing that's striking in this play is that you see a lot of admittance by people that they're in the wrong. And you see a lot of different ways that people take that. I think that something is very hard for people to do nowadays to admit that they're wrong. I think that it's good to see people willing to admit that they were actually mistaken about something. It's very powerful. And in the end, it brings the protagonist and the antagonist together in the closing scene in a way that you would not expect.

I think that's a very powerful thing and something that people should really take away from this. Be sure to come to Plaster Auditorium for the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Men on November 8th at 2 p.m. And at 7 p.m. Yeah, come to both. Come to both. Maybe there will be different things that you notice. Right, live theater. Anything can happen.

Anything can happen. You've been listening to an interview with Catherine Wales, Zane Soha, and Robert Whalen, all about their roles in the Hillsdale Academy production of 12 Angry Men. Don't miss out on this opportunity. Thank you for listening. I'm your host, Emily Shuddy, here on Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM.