Teachers take the stage

HVRHS teachers in “12 Angry Jurors” March 28.

Patrick L. Sullivan

Teachers take the stage

FALLS VILLAGE — Students and members of the community had a chance to see teachers and staffers in a new light during the Housatonic Faculty Theater Society’s staged reading of “12 Angry Jurors” at Housatonic Valley Regional High School Thursday, March 28.

The play, originally called “12 Angry Men,” was written by Reginald Rose and first performed in 1954. It follows jury deliberations in a homicide trial, and addresses topics such as race, prejudice, capital punishment and the burden of proof.

John Christinat (Technology Education) played Juror No. 8, the only juror to vote against conviction at the start of the play.

The primary antagonists are Juror No. 3, played by English teacher Damon Osora, and Juror No. 10, handled by Social Studies teacher Deron Bayer.

The reading took place in Room 133, which is a small amphitheater-style room, or a “thrust stage” in theater terms, with a minimal set. The performers and audience were thus very close.

The show was a fundraiser for the Class of 2027. Bayer is the faculty adviser for the class.

In a phone interview Sunday, March 31, Bayer said as class advisor he is always brainstorming with the students on how to raise funds for senior year activities.

He had also been thinking about establishing a faculty and staff theater group.

This year the stars aligned.

“It was a good excuse” to get the ball rolling on the theater group. Thinking about material, he realized he had the components of the cast of “12 Angry Jurors” at hand.

Bayer shrugged off the title of “director,” preferring “facilitator.”

He said the cast rehearsed a couple days a week for a total of six or seven rehearsals.

The advantage of a staged reading as opposed to memorizing the script is that the show can be ready to go much faster. Plus, the actors all have busy lives.

Bayer said that teachers with little or no formal dramatic experience are more ready to make the leap than they might think.

“Teachers are on stage all the time.”

Latest News

Angela Derrick Carabine

SHARON — Angela Derrick Carabine, 74, died May 17, 2025, at Vasser Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York. She was the wife of Michael Carabine and mother of Caitlin Carabine McLean.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated on June 6 at 11:00 a.m. at Saint Katri (St Bernards Church) Church. Burial will follow at St. Bernards Cemetery. A complete obituary can be found on the website of the Kenny Funeral home kennyfuneralhomes.com.

Revisiting ‘The Killing Fields’ with Sam Waterston

Sam Waterston

Jennifer Almquist

On June 7 at 3 p.m., the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington will host a benefit screening of “The Killing Fields,” Roland Joffé’s 1984 drama about the Khmer Rouge and the two journalists, Cambodian Dith Pran and New York Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg, whose story carried the weight of a nation’s tragedy.

The film, which earned three Academy Awards and seven nominations — including one for Best Actor for Sam Waterston — will be followed by a rare conversation between Waterston and his longtime collaborator and acclaimed television and theater director Matthew Penn.

Keep ReadingShow less
The art of place: maps by Scott Reinhard

Scott Reinhard, graphic designer, cartographer, former Graphics Editor at the New York Times, took time out from setting up his show “Here, Here, Here, Here- Maps as Art” to explain his process of working.Here he explains one of the “Heres”, the Hunt Library’s location on earth (the orange dot below his hand).

obin Roraback

Map lovers know that as well as providing the vital functions of location and guidance, maps can also be works of art.With an exhibition titled “Here, Here, Here, Here — Maps as Art,” Scott Reinhard, graphic designer and cartographer, shows this to be true. The exhibition opens on June 7 at the David M. Hunt Library at 63 Main St., Falls Village, and will be the first solo exhibition for Reinhard.

Reinhard explained how he came to be a mapmaker. “Mapping as a part of my career was somewhat unexpected.I took an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS), the technological side of mapmaking, when I was in graduate school for graphic design at North Carolina State.GIS opened up a whole new world, new tools, and data as a medium to play with.”

Keep ReadingShow less