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The Defamation Experience
The original, nationally-acclaimed legal drama Defamation has been bringing audiences face-to-face with issues of race, class, gender, and the law for more than a decade. Written by award-winning playwright and Canamac’s Executive Producer Todd Logan, the play challenges our own preconceived notions and leads audience members like yours to learn as much about themselves as they do the plaintiff and the defendant.
Case Study: University of Oregon School of Law Read More »
The Case
Here’s The Story:
Set in a Chicago courtroom in 2012, Ms. Regina Wade, an African-American small business owner, is suing Mr. Arthur Golden, a wealthy white real estate developer, after he’s accused her of stealing his family heirloom watch.
We hear testimony from both sides as the attorneys introduce matters of race, class, and more in attempts to build or erode the jurors’ perspectives on the character of each party. We also hear from Ms. Lorraine Jordan as a witness, who Ms. Wade asserts stopped doing business with her after conversations with Mr. Golden about the missing watch.
Defamation asks us to consider how we form our opinions of others. Can we judge someone based on where they go to bed at night? Following emotionally charged exchanges on both sides, the judge turns to your audience as jurors to decide the outcome of the case. With no “smoking gun” evidence to provide a clear answer, it’s up to each audience to adjudicate Ms. Wade’s civil suit.
Preview Scenes
The Post-Show Discussion
Let’s Go Deeper…
With the verdict reached, the trail is over, but the conversation is just beginning. In every Canamac Experience, after speaking in an open and civil manner about difficult topics like race and gender, participants keep talking, but now it’s about each of us as individuals instead of the characters in the play.
Our facilitator guides this deeper level of conversation, of course grounded in the topics from the case, but also whatever’s on the hearts and minds of audience members based on what they saw and how it made them feel. We don’t limit participants to what Ms. Wade and Mr. Golden talked about, and often discuss a lot more—including: preference vs. prejudice, allyship, power, privilege, and influence, assumptions based on class, intersectionality, and evolving realities in the USA.
We know based on more than a decade of feedback that conversations started within your organization often continue for days, weeks, and even months after the event. We offer an optional follow-up conversation between 1-2 weeks after the event takes place, bringing back the same facilitator for an additional hour of discussion with your audience.
Ready to bring this compelling, fully immersive experience to your organization?