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Sports

Redmen rock the rims in opener

by Adam Sadinsky on

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It was a night of new beginnings for the Redmen basketball team as they opened up their Quebec University Basketball League season with an 82-65 victory over Bishop’s Gaiters on Saturday night. Freshman Simon Bibeau led the team with 18 points as McGill (1-0) delivered a win for Head Coach David D’Aveiro in his first regular season game behind the bench.

For a team full of new faces, the win on Saturday should help the confidence of this promising McGill squad. The Redmen started out cautiously, trading baskets with the Gaiters (0-1), and only led by four points at halftime before they pulled away with a 28-15 third quarter to put the game out of reach.

“We played well in stretches— I thought especially in the third quarter we came out and played some pretty good defence and executed our offence,” said Head Coach D’Aveiro. “We played fairly well throughout the game.”

The Redmen were led by two young Montrealers in Bibeau and second-year point guard Olivier Bouchard. Bibeau had five rebounds and a pair of steals to go along with his team-leading 18 points, while Bouchard contributed 15 points to the winning effort.

In the first half, both teams struggled in their first regular season game. Neither team shot well, and at the end of the first quarter the score was tied at 16-16.

The struggles continued into the second quarter, but with less than 20 seconds to go in the half, Bibeau hit a clutch three-pointer, grabbed a rebound, and made a buzzer-beating layup for a five point swing that gave McGill a four point edge and all the momentum going into the half.

In the second half, McGill came out flying and never looked back. They scored the first 12 points to build up a lead that would later swell to 25 points in the fourth quarter.

“To start the second half we attacked the rim a little more, played with more confidence offensively,” D’Aveiro said, “Defensively we had some steals and got some scores off them.”

Bouchard said the team owed a lot to their new coach.

“Coach told us that this was the time to impose our will on them, and we did,” he said. “We had to play hard defence and run on offence. We took good shots and we won.”

Neither team had a particularly good game shooting from the field. McGill only shot 38.8 per cent and Bishop’s finished with a weak 37.5 per cent. However, free throws played an important role in the Redmen’s victory as they got to the line often in the second half and hit 76.7 per cent of their free throws while the Gaiters shot a dismal 37.9 per cent from the charity stripe.

Michael White, the only senior dressed for McGill, had two highlight reel dunks that brought the crowd to its feet. White had 10 points and added six rebounds. Nicholas Nishikawa pulled down eight boards to lead McGill to a 41-33 rebounding advantage.

On the other side, Onnex Blackwood led the Gaiters with 18 points, while Alex Audette-Genier had 12 in just 19 minutes.

Despite the win, there’s still work to be done for the Redmen. D’Aveiro stressed patience with his young team and recognized that there will be a learning curve despite their performance in their first game.

“With a young team you’re going to make a few more mistakes than you would with a veteran team, so you’ve got to be patient,” he said. “You don’t want to make the same mistakes twice. We’ve never played with a lead of 20, so we need to work on playing with a lead.”

Bibeau, the star of the game for the Redmen, was happy to get off on the right foot.

“It’s kind of like the first year for everyone,” he said. “But we have lots of potential and I love what’s going on here. I’m loving the experience, with a new coaching staff and newcomers on the team it’s been easy to adapt. I made a great decision [to play for McGill].”

McGill and Bishop’s will meet again on Thursday night in Lennoxville. The Redmen’s next game at Love Competition Hall is on Saturday, November 27, against the UQAM Citadins.

Sports

Around the Water Cooler

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For those of you who don’t keep TSN as your home page or Sports Illustrated as your bedtime reading, we know sports can be hard to understand, this section is for you.

Salacious solicitation scandal

NCAA FOOTBALL:  Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is one of the most exciting athletes you’ll ever see. His passing and running abilities are sublime (watch his ridiculous highlights on YouTube) and he’s the runaway favourite to win the Heisman Trophy. That is, until last week, when the news broke that Newton’s father, Cecil, had attempted to solicit a “pay for play” agreement for his son in the neighbourhood of six figures. Cecil has admitted to the charges but contends that his son was unaware of his dealings. Regardless, this is another devastating blow to the integrity of amateur college athletics south of the border. If Newton plays the rest of the season (and doesn’t get suspended by Auburn or the NCAA), look for him to dominate, for Auburn to remain undefeated and for the National Championship game to be surrounded by serious (and deserved) controversy.

 

Lions roughly ridden

CFL PLAYOFFS: In what is sure to go down as an all-time great Conference semifinal playoff game, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the B.C. Lions 41-38 in double overtime. Adding insult to injury, former Lion Jason Clermont scored the winning touchdown against his former team. Saskatchewan will go on to play Calgary in the Western Finals. In the other playoff game, Toronto defeated Hamilton 16-13 in the “Battle of Ontario” to set up a classic Eastern Conference final matchup against rival Montreal.

Pacman chews up Margarito

BOXING: Manny Pacquiao, the pride of the Philippines, staked his claim to be considered one of boxing’s all-time greats Saturday night when he absolutely demolished Antonio Margarito. Margarito, who was 17 pounds heavier and 4½ inches taller, was beaten so badly by the quick and powerful Pacquiao that he will need serious facial reconstruction surgery to repair his fractured right eye socket. This victory keeps the door open for a potential $100 million superfight with undefeated defensive wizard Floyd Mayweather Jr. It may be too late however, as Mayweather is facing domestic abuse charges and potential jail time.

 

Three kings or three stooges?

NBA: The Miami Heat now have more losses than they do all-stars. The new “big-three” suffered their third and fourth losses of the season to Utah and Boston, respectively. Looks like the Heat could use some more talent in South Beach.

NHLers unaware of how to properly tip cabbies

NHL: Hockey players seem to have a serious problem with cabbies. Less than a year after Stanley Cup hero Patrick Kane assaulted a taxi driver over $1.20 (Kane has a contract worth $31 million), Calgary Flames centre Brett Sutter was arrested for drunkenly sucker-punching a cabbie in Phoenix. This is getting outrageous—do NHLers need to be refereed at all times?

 

Straight cash homie

NFL: Randy Moss took the field for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. After getting himself kicked out of New England and Minnesota for bad behaviour (watch “Randy Moss—One Clap” by DJ Steve Porter for an incredible all-time compellation of Moss’ ridiculous quotes like, “Straight cash homie.” and “I play when I want to play”), this will be the third team that the former all-pro receiver has suited up for this season. Moss struggled again this weekend with one catch for 26 yards. If his poor performance and attitude continue, maybe he’ll get a chance at team number four later this season.

News, Sports

Sailing team suspended for two years

by Sam Hunter on

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The McGill Sailing Team is suspended for the next two years.

The team was already under scrutiny by the administration and recent events pushed McGill Athletics to action.

On October 23, three team members—Leif MacDonald, Justin Cruanes, and another student—were detained by police for stealing a parking sign after a regatta in Maryland.

The bail for MacDonald and Cruanes was initially set at $175,000 U.S. for each due to concerns that they were “flight risks,” while the third’s was set at $1,000. All three students were released after a bail hearing, though Cruanes, who is not a Canadian citizen, was unable to return to Canada for two weeks due to the ongoing investigation.

All charges were eventually dropped.

MacDonald explained that he and his friends who were involved felt bad for their roles in the incident but that the sailing team shouldn’t be punished for something involving only a few members

“We feel like it was something that four people did away from the team and it was something we shouldn’t have done but it doesn’t reflect [on the team as a whole]… it’s not like we had team meetings where we’d report back all the things we stole from the States this weekend,” MacDonald said. “We haven’t had a team meeting yet, but I do plan to apologize.”

The team was already on probation due to activities that took place during “rookie night” last year.

“We’ve investigated [the charges in Baltimore] and a number of other administrative situations that we had throughout the year, and we’ve informed the sailing team that they’ve been suspended and that the suspension is the result of a number of infractions, including that event,” said Executive Director of Athletics and Recreation at McGill, Drew Love. “When we looked at the difficulties that we were seeing and experiencing throughout this year [the suspension] was really done under the understanding that they were on probation,” he added.

The suspension means that “[The sailing team is] suspended for two years from all varsity activity, [from] participating in any varsity-related events, and [from] using the name McGill in any competition,” Love said.

Opinion

Too Asian? is too simplified

by Trip Yang on

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McGill Tribune

 

An article recently published in Maclean’s magazine, titled “Too Asian?” has generated controversy by presenting non-Asian Canadian students and families as concerned about attending universities with large Asian populations. Campuses that have the reputation of being too academically focused at the expense of a robust social scene are negatively cast as “too Asian.”

While the article is light on political correctness—one high school counsellor says, “Asians are the new Jews”— its real flaw is the oversimplification and gross generalization of a minority culture.

But for the authors to boil the discrepancy down to Asian students as “strivers, high achievers and single-minded in their approach to university” and white students as “more likely to choose universities  build their school lives around social interaction, athletics and self-actualization—and, yes, alcohol,” is a comparison that unfairly promotes an “us versus them” mentality.

At other times, the article is grasping for straws to stir its drink. The authors write that “there is little Asian representation on student government, campus newspapers or college radio stations.” The University of British Columbia’s student life is cited as an example, where the student executive contains no Asian members for the 2010-11 year. I have a hard time believing the demographic makeup of one unspecified student body at UBC is representative of Canadian student life in general. It’s comical to think that a reputable magazine hires such nonsensical inductionists.

Reader response has not been surprising. The Chinese Canadian National Council criticized the Maclean’s article as “fear mongering.” One Toronto executive director of the council labelled it “definitely racist.” It also unfairly targets one visible minority group as cliquish when the problem of self-segregating communities is really an immigration issue. If there is a silver lining, it’s that the Asian Canadian community can use this opportunity to re-evaluate the group’s self-identity within a multicultural society.  

As “model minorities,” Asians have often been depicted in mainstream media as academic superstars who are hardworking and career-focused. My own parents, extended family, and friends of Asian descent have often embraced the virtues of being perceived in such positive light. Whenever I pondered if our group’s overachievement and success can sometimes breed backlash, my concerns were dismissed as foolish and illogical.

But living in an oblivious bubble is an unhealthy mentality that should be remedied. If there are members of another culture who are discouraged from attending a prestigious university because the high number of Asians presumably raises the curve, then we shouldn’t be afraid to examine the concerns. When Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade claims that Asian students require an extra 140 points on the SAT to have an equal chance at university acceptance as white students, we need to scientifically test and peer review the phenomenon, and if true, make the community conscious of it.  

The publication of “Too Asian?” and the subsequent outrage reminds us that it’s important not to sweep contentious matters under the rug. If some feel that Asian students are more socially challenged, that Asian students segregate into their own campus cliques, and that there is a correspondingly higher standard for academic success, then these issues should all be spotlighted for discussion, even if it makes us cringe.

I’ve also encountered those who are very cognizant of the repercussions of being a model minority. When I interviewed for Columbia University in my last year of high school, my Chinese-American interviewer and Columbia alumni bluntly asked, “There are so many qualified Asian candidates applying to Ivy League schools. Trip, what can you bring besides good grades and an affinity for the piano?” I proceeded to explain how impressive my bench press-to-height ratio was.

While most Columbia rejectees reluctantly attend New York University or Cornell, I was lucky to end up at McGill. And it seems the stars have aligned—I’ve even met a couple of Asian students here who are involved in student life, like to drink, and can interact with others without speaking Mandarin or Korean.  

Trip Yang is a U3 economics and psychology student, and can be reached at trip.yang@mail.mcgill.ca.

Opinion

The politics of the poppy

by Martin Law on

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McGill Tribune

I didn’t know whether or not to buy a poppy for Remembrance Day this year.

In the Canadian consciousness the red poppy is a symbol of respect for soldiers, those who fought in wars from the First World War to the present day. The poppy, and Remembrance Day in general, reminds us of the sacrifices made for the freedoms that Canadians and others enjoy today. I accept this, but with a weary heart.

I believe there is a much darker, unspoken spectre of history with which we have to come to serious terms. Each November 11, I carry an unspoken feeling that the Canadians, or anyone else for that matter, who died in the First World War probably died for no greater cause. That’s around 60,000 soldiers, over half of those slain Canadians we memorialize on November 11. With that in mind, I don’t find Remembrance Day to be only a day of dignified respect, but also of tragic solemnity, where we must confront an unjustifiable loss. We don’t seem to acknowledge it explicitly, perhaps because it seems outright wrong to say. To hear the words at our Remembrance Day service that our soldiers “gave their tomorrow for our today” is emotionally moving. However, to examine what exactly half of our war dead fell for with a cold, objective view is quite another.

Taking Professor Peter Hoffman’s First World War history course last year made me question the real extent to which the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers contributed to anyone’s freedom. The reason Canada fought in the First World War was based on British interests in maintaining a certain balance of power, among other political goals. To add any moral significance to the war aims and motivations seems downright false. Additionally, the seeds of the Second World War were laid in the treaties that emerged from the First. Did those Canadian soldiers die making a sacrifice towards what they believed they fought for? We must contend seriously with the chilling idea that perhaps they just died horrific deaths, for no greater purpose than guaranteeing an even greater war two decades later.

What of the poppy? Isn’t it a symbol for all conflicts and sacrifices for our way of life? I understand that. But to me, it’s still a specific symbol of the First World War. It evokes foreign fields senselessly soaked with the blood of thousands of human beings, and represents one of the most horrific wars humanity has known. In Scotland, the poppy was popularized by a campaign launched by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, whom I don’t regard in his common image as a butcher, but under whose command a young man from my family died at Ginchy in the Somme. And for what? I’m entitled to question why we wear a symbol each November 11 that was popularized by the man who commanded while an ancestor of mine died.

I’m not alone in this skcepticism. The British journalist Jon Snow has refused to wear a poppy for public broadcasts before Remembrance Day, saying we can choose to remember (or not remember) in whatever way we like. I agree with him insofar as we have a freedom of expression, and those we commemorate died for us to have that right. The Guardian, commenting on Snow, made the point that in France, where the war struck even worse, few wear the equivalent cornflower, yet many still remember.

I bought a poppy anyway, and I always have. But I feel a strange curiosity towards the red plastic adornment on my lapel. Like any symbol, it will carry whatever meaning people choose to give it. For me, it represents sacrifice, and I just leave it at that.

Martin Law is a U2 history student, and can be reached at martin.law@mail.mcgill.ca.

Opinion

Re: McGill earns B+ in university sustainability rankings

by James Hirsch on

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So McGill only got a B+ rating for sustainability. It’s not that bad, and considering all the other stuff McGill has on its agenda, it should be happy it was able to pull that off. I mean, McGill could be like those other universities that spend all their time in the library and go to the SEI office hours all the time, but McGill has a life, and it has other things to do. Really, a B+ isn’t that bad for McGill. At least it’s not one of those institutions where sustainability grades are all inflated just so the university can get into sustainability grad school. McGill cares more about being challenged and doing the best it can, and in this case, that was a B+.

James Hirsch

U3 political science and North American studies

Opinion

Bring back handwritten invites

by Marko Djurdjic on

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I miss receiving invitations. Paper invitations. Invitations for everything. Birthday parties, pool parties, other parties. Those flimsy cards were a precious commodity in elementary and middle school. They’re now a relic of a time when people had to sit down and write by hand, and had to commit time, dedication, and care. Even if the penmanship was poor, it offered an authenticity that has recently given way to something more sterile. The culprit is, of course, Facebook.

I recently had to invite as many friends as I could to a play I’m performing in. The process of going through a list of friends to pick those I wanted to invite was frustrating to say the least. The prospect of simply “inviting all” became more appealing with every subsequent group of people I scrolled through. The worst part about knowing the “invite all” feature exists, and not receiving an invitation to a massive event, makes one feel even more left out of these social events. There’s something about receiving an invite of any sort that makes the invitee feel appreciated by the inviter. If someone took the time to click on your name alone, then there’s a wonderful sense of elation, especially if the event is small. But Facebook has simply made the process of staging an event a bore.

Using mass texting and mass Facebook invites as ways to contact people has negated the ever important aspect of having to invite a person while physically in their presence. These days, when I get invited to events, I feel less important and special than I used to. Although this may seem selfish and self-obsessed, I appreciate being invited to events in person. Even if I don’t attend, simply having someone take the time to invite to your face carries an element of real friendship. Seeing an invite, and then seeing that 400 other people have been invited to the same event immediately negates some of the connection you feel towards a person, and thus removes some of the excitement of attending. Lazy invitations make for lazy attendees, many of whom put “maybe attending” in an effort to placate those who made the event and sent out the invitations. What happened to RSVPing that you were coming, and then actually coming? Some try to escape this by texting their friends plans and event details, but these are immediately noticeable as mass texts: “Hey, come to our place Friday at 10” reeks of impersonality, and the least you can do is put “Hey guys…etc.” We know you’re inviting at least five of us with this same message, so lay off with the half-assed attempts at making them seem personal.

It’s easy to criticize Facebook, but by doing so we are really criticizing ourselves, as we have accepted this situation as the norm.

Yet the very nature of writing your friends’ names on that small line that read NAME, and penciling in your address and phone number, one card at a time, made your parties and events seem special, important, and even downright holy. Those cards took effort. Next time there’s a party, go to the dollar store, pick up a stack of those flimsy little cards, and send them to the people who most deserve a proper invite. Let’s bring the cards back: I, for one, miss them.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Commericals that will make you think

by Lilian Jordy on

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Last Wednesday, Cinema du Parc showed a screening of Cannes Lions, a part of the prestigious annual film festival in Cannes, which honours the world’s most creative and effective ads. The competition’s 57th anniversary presented eight awards to Canadian agencies, two of them from Quebec.

This two-hour experience—screening a little under 100 clips—was thought-provoking to say the least. Accustomed to the monotony of generic TV commercials, people outside the industry usually regard advertisements as purely functional, not artistic. But watching ads like ‘’Arctic Sun” for Tropicana orange juice triggers an uplifting emotional response: in the Canadian Arctic, an artificial sun rises in the dark morning sky over a bewildered crowd, followed by the “brighter mornings make for brighter days” slogan. Effects such as slow motion filming combined with sentimental piano music worked to create a vibrant atmosphere that resonated with the audience.

The most powerful clips, however, were far from pleasant in content. These often tackled difficult subject matter, like the Canadian Cancer Society’s three-minute montage of touching monologues from cancer survivors. The ads touched up politics several times, the most memorable being an Italian Rolling Stone clip denouncing their government’s sleazy sex and drugs scandals. The video’s narrative voice calls for rock ‘n’ roll behaviour to return to the hands of musicians, ordering us to “reclaim our alcoholic coma and the stench of passion.” Words like these are shocking and memorable in this context because we are never explicitly told by the media to pursue such actions. Combined with the beautifully crafted camerawork, viewers couldn’t help but be hypnotized. This clip proves that political views and thoughts can be more inspiring when reshaped by a creative frame of mind.

Similar to the Rolling Stone ad, environmental and health issues were raised in original ways, especially the winning entries by thefuntheory.com, an initiative of Volkswagen. The very successful ‘’Piano Stairs” clip had over 18 million hits on YouTube before the festival; the video shows how remodelling public stairways into piano keys that play notes when stepped on can actually deter people from using the escalator. Other ingenious experiments advertise the concept of “Fun Theory,” which posits the best way to get people to do things is to make them fun, as a way to reach out and change our behaviours for the better; doing so creatively provides dull messages like “be healthy and exercise” with enjoyment value.

Whether a viewer seeks thought-provoking messages or purely audiovisual enjoyment, the Cannes Lions Festival offers a wide variety for everyone. It offers creative interpretations of the world we live in today, and is food for the contemporary mind.

The Cannes Lions Festival is now playing at Cinema du Parc

Arts & Entertainment, Theatre

Don’t cheat on the queen

by Brahna Siegelberg on

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Sophie Silkes

 As a broke college student, attending an opera can be jarring and strange: spectators are dressed to the nines, songs are sung in languages most of us don’t understand, actors are wearing over-the-top costumes, and melodramatic stories are being unfurled before us. But if you suspend your cynicism, if only for a couple hours, then what you will discover is an unabashed world of aesthetic delight that thankfully didn’t get left behind in the Romantic period.

And that’s just what happened on Saturday night, when the Opéra de Montreal opened its latest play, Gaetano Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux. A whirlwind of colour and orchestral sound, the play began with an overture that included “God save the Queen,” signalling its main subject: Queen Elizabeth I.

An opera in three acts, Roberto Devereux tells the story of a love quadrangle involving the Queen, her favourite, Roberto Devereux Earl of Essex, his lover, the Duchess Sarah, and her husband, the Duke of Nottingham. Written in 1837 as part of a series of Tudor dramas, the opera covers one period in the life of Elizabeth I—arguably one of the most studied monarchs in European history. Although Elizabeth isn’t the opera’s title character, it’s her jealousy, rage, and ultimate revenge that drive the play’s action and lyrical focus.

Like most operas, Devereux is not a history in song, but a highly romanticized and dramatized take on a quasi-historical moment. Robert and Sarah are lovers, but when Robert goes to fight in Ireland—where, historically, he staged a coup against the crown and failed to quell the Irish “rebels”—the Queen forces Sarah to marry Nottingham. When Robert returns, Elizabeth is willing to forget his treachery if he admits that he loves her, an exchange that is explored through a dramatic recitative in which Elizabeth belts “Are you in love?” and he answers with a solemn “No.”

To add fuel to the flame, Elizabeth gives Robert one more chance to save himself from the gallows—where he’s been sent for treason to the Queen on two accounts—by naming his secret lover, which he gallantly refuses to do. Meanwhile, Nottingham, looking to exact revenge on Robert on behalf of his wife, declares in a rich, powerful baritone, “Blood I wanted, and blood I got!” Although Elizabeth is outraged by Robert’s infidelity and treason, the play ends with her inner torture at the thought of her dead lover. Her powerful final aria, “Vivi Ingrato” (“Ingrateful Life”) exposes at once her anger and deep remorse.

It’s interesting to note the importance Donizetti attributed to the character of Robert, as he’s neither the title character of the story on which the opera was based—Francois Ancelot’s Elisabeth d’Angleterre—nor even the central figure in the opera itself. Yet Russian tenor Alexey Dolgov justifies his status as the title character, as it was his soaring tenor that carried the play. Although Robert has technically done what any woman—even one without the power to declare a death sentence—would call sleazy, he manages to maintain the sympathy of the audience with his exquisite vocals and powerful stage presence.

A rarely staged opera, Devereux is still considered a masterpiece of the bel canto style—one that features the prima donna soprano and the virtuoso tenor, as opposed to the extinct castrato. Greek soprano Dimitra Theodossiou, who plays Elizabeth, captures the stage presence and dramatic flair characteristic of the domineering Queen. However, often singing shrilly and unpleasantly, she proves that she’s no diva. American mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Batton, who plays Sarah, can’t sing like a prima donna either, but the scenes between her and Robert are stirring and poignant.

If you’re not for the singing, go to the opera for the vibrant costumes and the elaborate set designs. In one scene between Sarah and Robert, Elizabeth suddenly looms over the lovers like a judge at his lectern. Although her presence is meant to be metaphorical, it was a brilliant move on the part of the director, evoking not only Elizabeth’s power over the relationship but her status as a stand-in for England itself.

Roberto Devereux has all the components of a great opera—love, lust, and betrayal—and serves as a reminder of a powerful and compelling art form that is rarely appreciated by today’s youth.  

Roberto Devereux is playing at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts on Nov. 17, 20, 22, and 25. For more information call 514-842-2112 or go to operademontreal.com

Opinion

Why deliberation is necessary

by Alexander Hamilton on

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Saskia Nowicki

 Closing the fall season at Players’ Theatre, the cast and crew of Twelve Angry Men take on the daunting task of performing an American classic on the McGill stage. Based on the 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose, Twelve Angry Men has been adapted twice for film, performed on Broadway, and the original motion picture was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Director Natalie Gershstein’s production aspires to a realistic portrayal of this timeless account of 12 jurors deciding the guilt or innocence of a young man charged with murdering his father.

Set in a crowded and, at times, claustrophobic jury room, the play recounts a single juror’s stubborn refusal to succumb to the pressures of his peers in the decision over the murder trial. The action of the play revolves around the protagonist’s attempts to convince his fellow jurors to review the evidence presented, and revise their quick judgment of the case. His attempts to alter the group’s verdict are presented with both subtlety and complexity, focusing on the shifting dynamic of the group and the varied interactions between the 12 characters.

Twelve Angry Men is an important artistic depiction of the American judicial system that manages to resonate as well with audiences today as it did 50 years ago. The characterization of the many prejudices inherent in American society can be viewed historically as a commentary on McCarthyism, fascism, communism, or as a timeless indictment against all forms of bigotry. The piece’s message is perennial and it remains relevant in the face of social change thanks to its astute depiction of humanity.

The protagonist, Juror Number Eight (Rowan Spencer), distinguishes himself from the group with his deliberate aloofness and introspection. Although Spencer’s performance controls the stage, his talent lies in his ability to disconnect from the action and to lead the jury with reason. The group’s interactions are dominated by the bigotry of Jurors Number Three (Matthew Banks), Number Six (Alex Rivers), and Number Ten (Matthew Steen), whose aggressive views and unwillingness to engage in rational discourse eventually alienate them from the rest of the jury. However, the play’s true antagonist appears to be a stockbroker, Juror Number Four (Andrew Cameron), who coolly matches Spencer’s character point for point with reasonable dissent. As the play progresses. the more rational characters—Juror Number Nine (Gerard Westland), Juror Number Eleven (Martin Law), and Juror Number Five (James Kelly)—quickly line up on the side of the protagonist, while the rest of the cast—the Foreman (Leo Imbert), Juror Number Two (Richard Carozza), Juror Number Six (Max Lanocha) and Juror Number Twelve (Max Lloyd-Jones)—take longer to be convinced.

The comprehensiveness of the cast’s performance is remarkable, in particular its ability to represent a wide range of mannerisms and stereotypes. Gerard Westland is convincing in the difficult role of an old man, thanks in part to some great makeup. Also notable is the dynamism between several of the actors. The interaction between Juror Number Twelve, an ad man lacking in convictions, and Juror Number Eleven, a German immigrant with an outsider’s perspective on the situation, is especially enjoyable to watch, as is the strange alliance that forms between Jurors Number Three and Number Four.

The play’s staging adheres to Gershstein’s realist aims. The painted faux wood floor frames the action nicely, and frequent use of props, like two switchblade knives and an overhead projector, enhance the production. Lighting is used to focus the audience’s attention on the action when it shifts to the washroom, and when seated around the table the characters stagger their chairs and situate themselves so as to avoid blocking anyone.

Even with 12 actors in such an enclosed space, the play’s action manages to shift smoothly. While certain characters are speaking, others will mime dialogue, or position themselves to the sides of the stage. The careful realism of Twelve Angry Men is broken only a few times, in particular during one indelible scene where the characters turn their backs on Juror Number 10’s dogmatic monologue. The moment is blatantly theatrical, but the performance retains an overall realistic quality throughout.

Gershstein’s production of Twelve Angry Men is a thorough and methodical performance of the play that succeeds in capturing the impetus of Rose’s original script. Although this version doesn’t attempt any radical modifications, its critique of prejudice, reason, and persuasion in the judicial system remains relatable and necessary.

Twelve Angry Men plays from November 17-20. Tickets are $6. For more information visit ssmu.mcgill.ca/players/

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