Courtrooms in Washington D.C. have seen their share of intriguing legal cases, but two new immersive theater shows from The Jury Experience have just been announced, giving the city’s love for legal drama a theatrical twist. Million Dollar Murder or Web of Lies? and A Life Taken for the Sake of Entertainment? invite audiences to take the juror’s seat and weigh evidence and testimony in real time.
Each 60-minute production has the familiar trappings of a typical trial following the same principle: the truth is not handed down, but weighed, debated and ultimately decided by those watching. That is why seeing the actors’ convincing testimonies is crucial because every minute is tense, every account detailed and the trial constantly shifting as perspectives change.
Two trials, countless secrets: Can D.C. audiences tell who’s lying?
At Million Dollar Murder, a headline-grabbing divorce, a high-profile love triangle and the dead body of one of the lovers are at the center of the trial. Set at the The Miracle Theater, the jurors must sift through conflicting testimonies and ambiguous motives to determine if the defendant is a calculating killer or just a scapegoat of someone else’s scheme. As DNA evidence is scarce, participants will need to mostly rely on testimony and the ability to read between the lines. Two dates have been confirmed until now: November 1 and January 23.
On the other hand, A Life Taken for the Sake of Entertainment will transform Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater into a courtroom for a darker and slightly uncanny scenario. The victim is Julian Marks, a reality TV show cameraman who is killed during the taping of a paranormal investigation at the haunted Brackenmoor Castle. The executive producer of the show is the accused who is being tried for manslaughter. On November 15 and 23, participants need to decide whether it was manslaughter due to negligence, something supernatural, much in line with the show, or perhaps a tangled cover-up.
The Jury Experience premiered in D.C. with an intriguing trial about accountability in accidents caused by self-driving cars. The case was highly praised by guests and it even caught the attention of the MoralPLai Project of the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence of the notable TUM university. This season, the focus changes to something darker with two shows offered in each venue at 6:00pm and 8:30pm.
Both murder cases blur the line between theater and trial. But the question is, which trial will you join: the toxic love triangle turned deadly or the chilling death at a haunted shoot? Either way, when the gavel comes down, justice will be what you, the jury, decide.