From its 19th-century smuggling operations to its notorious murder cases, the city has a history of bizarre and bleak trials. This season, The Jury Experience in Brighton is shaking up the city’s legal landscape, bringing gripping live theatre trials to The Roedean Theatre that are all play but feel like the real deal. Whether you’re a true crime lover or curious by nature, these immersive games put you in the juror’s shoes, blending thought-provoking cases, compelling accounts and intense moral dilemmas.
The Jury Experience in Brighton: what trial is on and what’s it about?
Death by AI
A split-second decision, a life lost, and a question no one is ready to answer. In this tense, thought-provoking case, an autonomous system stands at the centre of a fatal incident, forcing the jury to confront where responsibility truly lies, whether it’s with the machine, its creators, or the humans who trusted it. As evidence unfolds and perspectives clash, you’re drawn into a psychological maze where logic, ethics, and emotion collide. Each choice you make carries weight, and certainty becomes increasingly elusive.
What is The Jury Experience?
The Jury Experience is a 60-minute interactive courtroom drama that puts the audience at the centre of the story. Rather than watching passively, everyone becomes part of the jury, using QR technology to vote on key decisions as the trial unfolds.
Performed by professional actors, each case explores philosophical, moral, and sometimes scientific dilemmas, from modern questions around technology and responsibility to human-centred crimes built on conflicting testimonies. With new and returning cases rotating, and an age recommendation of 12+, it’s designed to challenge curious minds and spark debate long after the verdict is delivered.
There’s something deeply compelling about questioning motives and realising how rarely the truth feels clear-cut. The Jury Experience taps into that instinct, asking audiences to sit with uncertainty and confront their own moral boundaries. In a city like Brighton, known for open minds and lively debate, the experience becomes more than theatre. Each decision shapes the outcome, reminding everyone that justice, like life, is rarely straightforward.