By Kari Dickinson

When University Theatre’s production of Michael Rohd’s “The Compass” opens this week, every performance may have a different ending. That’s because in this interactive courtroom drama, the audience doesn’t just watch the trial unfold. They become the jury.

The story centers on a young girl who uses a predictive app called “The Compass” to make a life-altering decision. After hearing the evidence, audience members must decide whether she acted with her own agency and judgment or was unduly influenced by artificial intelligence.

“You will hear from the defense and the prosecution and their witnesses,” says Micha Espinosa, a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Theatre and Drama and the show’s director. The Mitchell Theatre has been reconfigured to accommodate eight jury pools, each guided by a trained facilitator. 

Through the performance, audience members deliberate together before reaching a verdict.

Originally produced by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in 2016, the play takes on new relevance in an era increasingly shaped by AI.

Jared Lee, the show’s assistant director and dramaturg and a doctoral student interdisciplinary theatre studies at UW–Madison, notes that the play was devised and written six years before the release of ChatGPT. “It was predicting our future,” he says, “and now we are fully living in it.”

“One of the biggest things that we have to deal with as a society right now is AI and how it’s affecting our lives,” Espinosa says. 

The production features 19 student performers from across the university, including theatre majors as well as students from disciplines ranging from astrophysics and mathematics to the arts. Eight cast members serve as facilitators, guiding audience deliberations through the evening.

To bring this ambitious production to life, Espinosa has assembled a team of nationally recognized guest artists who are also serving as guest lecturers and mentoring UW–Madison students through the production process. These include facilitator trainer Alejandro Tey, who brings extensive experience in audience participation and collaborative theatre-making, and award-winning sound designer John Zalewski, who has crafted a narrative-driven sonic landscape. In addition, scenic designer Erik Flatmo has created a flexible environment that functions simultaneously as courtroom, public forum, and participatory research space, and digital media artist and experience designer Doster Chastain has devised projections and media elements that place audience agency at the center of the experience.

For Espinosa, the show’s ultimate goal extends beyond the courtroom drama and its core. She describes “The Compass” as roughly 90 minutes of “deep, engaging fun” that invites audience members to wrestle with challenging questions.

“I didn’t want to just do a show. I wanted the experience to begin when the audience walks into the lobby and continue through the show itself.”

Lee adds that he hopes audience members feel like they are really part of the show. The experience, he says, goes “well beyond just watching in the dark.”

“I hope people leave more curious about those around them who may have reached different conclusions,” Espinosa says. “I hope they’re more aware of the human choices behind the technology we use. I hope they’re inspired to engage in community discussion and excited to return to see more great work.”

To continue those conversations beyond the stage, the Department of Theatre and Drama will host a seminar and panel discussion on Thursday, Oct. 15, from 12:30–1:30 p.m., available via livestream. The event will bring together artists and scholars from theatre, education, law, philosophy, and artificial intelligence, including “The Compass” creator Michael Rohd, to explore the ethical questions raised by the production and the role of human judgment in an increasingly technology-driven world.

University Theatre’s “The Compass” runs Oct. 15–25 in the Ronald E. Mitchell Theatre in Vilas Hall. To buy tickets, visit artsticketing.wisc.edu or call 608-265-2787.