Thankfully the heated action takes place on stage but the story of Twelve Angry Men will challenge its audience to think about how they view the world.

Twelve Angry Men is the first St Patrick's College production to be performed live since COVID struck and director Monique Allen said the boys could not wait to get back in front of an audience.

For the students who love their drama, music and productions it's a return "home" to the stage that helps create a sense of belonging.

"Not every boy fits the mold of the sporting kid and we do find they are really looking for a home and sense of belonging which they can get from performing arts if they don't fit that sporting mold," Ms Allen said.

With construction underway on a new purpose-built performing arts building at St Patrick's College Ms Allen is hoping even more boys will be attracted to performing arts.

"We are still fighting against what kids perceive as being cool and still making a name for us in performing arts here," she said.

For the 13-member cast of Twelve Angry Men, and two students in charge of sound and lighting, the curtain will go up on their production next week after months of rehearsals.

"We are just so happy we can finally get in to the theatre and bring this to an audience," Ms Allen said.

With cast members ranging from year eight to year 12 the group took the time to "unpack" the issues in the play before tackling the script.

"A play like Twelve Angry Men is an opportunity for real character development alongside such strong issues," she said.

"They enjoyed analysing it and thinking about the messages it has ... to unpick the prejudice and bias within the characters."

The entire play takes place in a New York jury room where 12 jurors deliberate on a murder case in which a 16-year-old boy has been charged with killing his father and faces the prospect of the electric chair if found guilty.

Eleven of the 12 jurors initially vote guilty but one votes not guilty and what follows is a passionate debate about race, prejudice and whether justice can really be served in the American legal system.

"We don't see any of the trial itself, only the 12 jurors deliberating on the court case and picking apart the facts they have heard over the past three or four days. Although it does not specify, it implies the accused is from a minority ethnic background and the prejudice that some of the jurors place on him," Ms Allen said.

"Over the case of the play we see real debate play out about whether we can achieve justice given humans apply their own bias to pretty much everything.

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"The issues raised in this timeless piece of theatre remind us of the need to question what bias we might carry with us throughout our lives."

Ms Allen said the boys were 'raring to go' in front of an audience in the theatre after the COVID pandemic forced the cancellation of one show just before it was due to open, and its 2020 production had to be live streamed online.

Twelve Angry Men is at the Helen Macpherson Smith Theatre at Federation University from May 25 to 28. Tickets available here

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