'Ferguson' - staged reenactment of Michael Brown shooting & actual witness testimony

LOS ANGELES - April 16, 2015 - PRLog -- Would you indict Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown? Watch a live, staged reenactment of the shooting, taken from actual witness testimony from the Ferguson grand jury. Written by journalist and documentary filmmaker Phelim McAleer, FERGUSON will be the first dramatization of the controversial shooting that prompted public outcry and riots, with protestors claiming that white police officer Wilson shot black teenager Brown as he was surrendering with his hands up. Experience the truth of “verbatim theater” (a play constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic) with Theatre Verité Collective. The audience is the jury. How will you vote?

“I want to bring the truth about what happened that day to the stage,” explains McAleer. “I think audience members will be very surprised, even shocked, when they hear the clear and unaltered truth about the events that took place on Aug. 9, 2014. There are a lot of myths and half-truths circulating about the shooting.FERGUSON is a chance to dispel these once and for all.”

Because the subject matter is so controversial, McAleer is launching the play as an independent production financed by crowdfunding. “I know people want the truth to be told, so now they can be part of that process to help make that happen,” he says.

McAleer, who covered numerous crime scenes and court cases while reporting on the Troubles in Northern Ireland forThe Irish News and UK Sunday Times, concludes, “I’ve always been fascinated with the truth and with reexamining facts once the controversy and grief have abated. That is what I want to bring to the stage withFERGUSON.”

Four performances of FERGUSON take place on Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m., and on Monday, April 27; Tuesday, April 28 and Wednesday,April 29, all at 8 p.m. Tickets are $65. Presented by Theatre Verité Collective as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90025; Tickets: $65; (310) 477-2055 ext. 2.