Lizzie Borden Workshop

Lizzie Borden and the 40 Whacks
Show and Workshop

A facilitator will welcome the audience and introduce the program. Throughout the presentation, the facilitator will appear periodically to help guide the audience through the performance and workshop, ensuring a smooth and engaging progression.

Show: Lizzie Borden and the 40 Whacks

by Fran Baron

On a scorching August day in 1892, a shocking crime shattered the quiet town of Fall River. Spinster Lizzie Borden was accused, tried, and ultimately acquitted of the brutal axe murders of her father and stepmother. This true, unsolved mystery has fascinated the American public for more than a century. Two people died in that house in 1892, but Lizzie Borden lives on in American folklore.

This live theatrical performance features two actors portraying multiple characters as they bring to life the events surrounding the infamous murders. Through dramatic storytelling, character transformations, and historical detail, audiences will step back into one of America’s most enduring mysteries.

Workshop

Following the performance, audience members will have the opportunity to question Lizzie Borden, her maid, the prosecuting attorney, and defense counsel in character.

The audience will then break into smaller groups, where materials from the original trial will be presented, including autopsy reports, witness testimony, photographs, and a diagram of the Borden house. Each group will elect a foreperson and work together to examine the evidence surrounding the case.

After reviewing the material, the groups will formulate questions to present to the characters during an interactive question-and-answer session. Audience members will then return to their groups to deliberate and vote on the guilt or innocence of Miss Borden.

The verdicts of the various groups will be announced before the larger assembly, and the judge will deliver Miss Borden’s “sentence” based on the audience decisions.

The program concludes with a final discussion and question-and-answer period with the actors and presenter, exploring what actually happened to Lizzie Borden following the trial and why this infamous mystery continues to fascinate audiences more than a century later.