‘Ferguson’ Play: Audience Members Get To Decide If They Would Indict Darren Wilson
A play based on the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri, is scheduled to open soon, and it will allow audience members to decide if they would have indicted former Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown.
The play, simply titled Ferguson, is looking to raise $93,000 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo. At the time of this post, the play has raised $5,371. Donations can be made until May 2.
Written by journalist Phelim McAleer, the play will “reveal the truth about what really happened” in Ferguson last year, as described on its Indiegogo page.
“‘Ferguson’ is a staged version of the grand jury testimony exactly as they heard it… Every night the audience will decide who’s telling the truth, decide who’s lying, and decide if they would indict Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown. How will you vote?”
McAleer adds that the Ferguson play will have “no spin” and “no media filter.”
“It presents the exact testimony and asks you to decide for yourself. In an era of [24-hour] punditry disguised as news, ‘Ferguson’ brings the truth.”
The play is scheduled to first open at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles for a four-night run on April 26-29. But McAleer is looking to take Ferguson to more cities. One of those cities to which he wants to bring the play is Ferguson, Missouri, where it all took place.
The way in which Ferguson will be presented is through a format called verbatim theatre, which has been successful in the United Kingdom. During the performance, the audience will hear what the grand jury heard when they made their decision to not indict Darren Wilson. After the play has ended, the audience will then make a vote on whether they would have indicted Wilson.
McAleer told Deadline that the Ferguson play will reveal a lot of information that has yet to be heard by the general public.
“There are 5,000 separate documents in the grand jury testimony and there are 20 different perspectives from law enforcement and forensic experts, but a lot of it was from eyewitness testimony and even Brown’s friend. There were liars on both sides and everyone I’ve shown the script to were shocked by the details of it that they didn’t know.”
Ferguson is not the first time McAleer has used crowdfunding for a project. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, McAleer used Indiegogo to fund a documentary about Kermit Gosnell, a Pennsylvania-based abortion doctor who was convicted of killing babies after they had already been born. The documentary raised $2.25 million and is the highest-funded project on Indiegogo.
[Image via YouTube screencap]
