A landmark American drama that inspired a classic film and a Broadway revival—featuring an introduction by David Mamet A blistering character study and an examination of the American melting pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check, Twelve Angry Men holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture to form of them—and of America, at its best and worst. After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

本作は密室で正義の本質を問う、言葉の格闘技とも呼ぶべき傑作です。レジナルド・ローズは、陪審員たちが纏う偏見を一枚ずつ剥ぎ取り、人間の醜さと気高さを鮮烈に描き出しました。８号が投じる一石は、思考停止した群衆に「疑う勇気」を促す崇高な祈りとして、今なお色褪せない輝きを放っています。 一九五七年の映画版は視覚的な閉塞感が圧巻ですが、原作戯曲は言葉の裏に潜む人生の機微を深く咀嚼できる点が魅力です。アメリカの縮図を活字で追体験することで、読者は自身の良心と対峙させられるでしょう。映像の緊張感とテキストの深み、その相乗効果が司法の理想をより鮮明に浮き彫りにします。