Judicial Murder of Mrs. Surratt

[wpbinzel]

Thank you, Laurie and Roger. I was pleased (and honored) to represent the Surratt Society at last Sunday's matinee. In a separate post, I will offer my personal review of the play.

When I was first asked, I suggested to Mr. Amada that instead of a monologue on Mrs. Surratt, that we use the post-play session with the audience seriving as jurors considering the evidence. At the outset, based on what they had just seen, I asked for a show of hands of who thought that Mrs. Surratt was "innocent"; who thought that she was "guilty of something, but not exactly sure of what"; and who thought she "got what she deserved." I did not do a count, but would estimate that about 80% of the audience said innocent; 20% said guilty of something; and I don't think anyone said "got what she deserved." Respectively, I then asked some of those who "voted" innocent why they thought that; and did the same for some of those who chose guilty of something. I then attempted to objectively review the evidence against Mrs. Surratt, noting various elements where there were multiple witnesses or statements to corroberate details; where elements was based on testimony limited to one or two individuals, and whether those individuals were credible; and where elements were speculative at best. That was followed by some Q&A and, at the end of a total of about 20 minutes, asked the audience to re-vote. Interestingly, the outcome was reversed. About 20% said innocent; 75% said guilty of something; and a smattering said "got what she deserved." (I did not get the "What do you think?" question.) My impression is that the audience was very engaged, and the session could have gone a bit longer, but there was a time constraint on the use of the theater. I wrapped-up with a plug for the Surratt House Museum and the Surratt Society. My hope (and objective) was to generate interest in both. (Laurie had sent brochures which were set out by the door, as well as some complimentary tour tickets, all of which were taken.) Time will tell.