The interactive part comes in at the end, where audience members play the role of the grand jury and decide whether they would vote to indict Wilson.
The play is being written by documentarian Phelim McAleer, who has previously done movies pushing back against prevailing wisdom about fracking and climate change, including Not Evil Just Wrong, which was made in response to An Inconvenient Truth. Currently, McAleer is in the process of crowdfunding and developing a movie about convicted abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell.
In a conversation with Bloomberg’s Dave Weigel, McAleer explained that he was discouraged by a lack of journalistic skepticism in Ferguson and just wants to get the truth out there:
“That’s part of the problem, people who think journalists or journalism should have a legacy in mind… It should
just tell you the truth. If you start out trying to change the world, you make mistakes. You should start off telling the truth. I want people to know the truth. If this is successful in Los Angeles I want to take it on the road, then to Ferguson, Mo.”
The grand jury, of course, did not indict Wilson, and the Department of Justice did not charge Wilson following their investigation.
[h/t Deadline]
[image via R. Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock]
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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac