Is 10 years too late? | The Inquest Theatre Review

Here we are, back at doing every online immersive show I can, watching every online show I can, finding theatre wherever I can in an attempt to keep myself sane.

A disclaimer I feel I need to add is if you are reading this but have no idea what immersive theatre is, I suggest you read that here, but I would like to boldly assume by how much I write about immersive theatre, if you are reading this, you already know.

Although it may seem we are only limited to online experiences at the moment, ironically, I don’t think I have ever tried such a vast range of shows! I’ve done shows I would never have thought to try before, I’ve tried shows that are not actually shows. Most recently, I got the chance to try out a new show that requires you and a team of people to form a jury and come to a conclusion about the death of a student that seems to be surrounded with unanswered questions, even 10 years after the death occurred. I am talking about Jury Games’ newest show ‘The Inquest’, which will be going on sale next week.

This is another show I have never done anything like, but thoroughly enjoyed. Yourself, with your fellow jurors have a great deal of freedom in the show. You’re given a brief overview of the case, and told within a rather short time frame, you as a jury have to present your findings and come to a decision as to how you think Scott Davies died. And so it begins. Collecting evidence, finding new things along the way, and it seems the more you find out, it only leads to more unanswered questions.

I had a great time doing this show. It was tremendous fun. Fast paced, not so easy that you come to a conclusion right away (in fact quite the opposite), but similarly, if – like me – academics is not your strong point, understandable for everyone. There’s enough detail and ‘things’ (deliberately being as vague as I can for fear of spoilers) to be found that everyone has something they can be reading or doing, without all the details and information being overwhelming. It is worth noting – there is huge amounts of evidence…but if you think it is all handed to you on a plate, you’ve got another thing coming. Some evidence is easily found, yes. But some, it takes a bit more hard work to locate. It takes thinking outside the box, hunting around, looking for the details and clues in every single thing you come across, to lead to the evidence you may need to come to a solid conclusion.

That nicely brings me onto my next point to add: you do not have to be of the highest intelligence to partake in this show. As I said before, I worry for experiences like this that I will not be academically smart enough. By that I mean I’m not completely thick…but for things like judicial system, code breaking, even in-depth politics to an extent…I will understand and be able to participate eventually, but I’ve found it takes me a bit longer than it may take others. However, in this show there is something for everyone. I am being very careful what I say because I don’t want to spoil some of the things you get up to during the show, but be reassured – whatever your own skill is, whatever your intelligence excels at…there is always something you can be doing that will add to the show. You will never be useless. And coming from me – that says a lot!

As with most, if not all shows I have played now, you can choose how much you immerse yourself. If you want to throw yourself head first into the show, do as much as you can…you can do that. If you want to sit back and be more of an observer of the show…that is also possible! Whilst the show is almost entirely led by the audience members taking on the role of the jury and their actions, there are small sections of acting throughout the show…however the acting sections are also audience led. I appreciate I’m being extremely vague, but I feel any one thing I say could very much spoil the whole show. And going in knowing very little is all part of the fun, experiencing everything firsthand for yourself!

The unpredictability of the show is something else I really enjoyed. Just as you think the show and your decision is headed one way, you uncover something else and it feels like you’ve taken a U-Turn. Through playing the show last night, it is also clear that this show can indeed have multiple endings. I won’t say anything more because you’re all absolutely going to book this show when you can, and you therefore do not want spoilers.

Now this is not Jury Games’ first online show. They have previously done an online show called Jury Duty which was hugely successful. However you do not need to have done the first show to do this one. I intended on booking onto Jury Duty, but had not gotten around to it yet, and worried that I would be at a disadvantage for this reason. My worries were unnecessary as the two are not (to my own understanding), related. Just put together by the same people. So, if you’ve not done one but want to do the other? You can do that! I actually have just booked myself onto Jury Duty – which is still very much running – and will be doing that in the very near future. That is another show that I am very excited to see what lies in store!

So. That is The Inquest. A fast paced and dramatic show, something different and perfect for an evening’s entertainment. A death of a student. 10 years passed. And it’s up to you and your fellow jurors to come to a conclusion and close the case before time is up. You’d better crack on, then.

To learn more about Jury Games here, including booking tickets for Jury Duty, their first show, and being ready to book for The Inquest when tickets go on sale, visit their website: https://www.jurygames.com/.