Of Ms Americana.127 | The Trials

The defense (a live, breathing 72-year-old public defender named Margaret Chu, who has represented every Ms. Americana since Trial 12) stands up. She does not shout. She never shouts.

Tonight’s co-conspirator is a 29-year-old graduate student named Priya. She is asked to read a series of statements she posted anonymously on a now-deleted forum for “high-achieving mothers.” The Trials Of Ms Americana.127

She is played by a different actor each night, chosen from a lottery of audience members who self-identify as “having judged another woman harshly in the last 30 days.” The lottery is not rigged. It is, according to the program notes, “almost always full.” The defense (a live, breathing 72-year-old public defender

The question is not whether she is guilty. She never shouts

The second witness is a former Ms. Americana from the 87th trial (2019), now a 44-year-old librarian in Ohio. She testifies remotely, her face pixelated by choice. She is asked: “What is the single greatest trial you faced?”

She pauses for 22 seconds. A lifetime on stage.