The Exonerated Script

Two decades after “The Exonerated” premiered off Broadway, the true stories of six people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death are still as powerful and relevant as the first time they were told.

Thursday night, Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law and the School of Communication co-presented a new dramatic reading of the play to mark 10 years since the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois and the role the Center on Wrongful Convictions (CWC) had in its overturning.

Broadway and television star, Jordan Donica directed the cast of Northwestern performers. This latest reading featured current students, faculty and alumni including stage and screen star Harry Lennix (C ’86), and Tony Award winner Katrina Lenk, a graduate of Bienen School of Music.

With a few exceptions, each word spoken in this play comes from the pub- lic record — legal documents, court transcripts, letters — ot from an inerviow with an exonerated person, The nanes ofthe exones- ated people are their own; some names of auxiliary cha ve been changed for legal reasons. Sna eaninanta The vast majority of the piece is as ir was said two, five, ten and ‘twenty years ago by the actual participants. The Exonerated- Raven Theatre- Culled from interviews, letters, transcripts, case files, and public record, The Exonerated tells the stories of six wrongfully convicted survivors of death row in their own words. It paints a harrowing picture of American justice gone terribly wrong, as well as a tribute to the perseverance and bravery of the people it portrays. Exonerated (1 instance in 1 translation) Exonerating (1 instance in 1 translation) Exoneration (1 instance in 1 translation) Bible Theasaurus. Acquit (19 instances) Clear (664 instances) Discharge (34 instances) Exonerate (2 instances. The Exonerated Script - Free download as PDF File (.pdf) or view presentation slides online. Script to the Exonerated. The Exonerated Play Pdf Files. Another Files: the exonerated a play ebooks pdf - souu, convicted by juries exonerated by science convicted. The Exonerated is a play about the real life stories of people wrongly accused of murder. But while the main focus of The Exonerated is the innocent wrongly. The Exonerated Play In Nyc; The Exonerated Play.

After reading the original script of “The Exonerated” written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, Donica knew this was a project he could not pass.

“I read the play and was immediately affected,” Donica said. “The rawness of these stories, and the obvious innocence of these people remained with me. The lessons to be learned from people who are victims of the [justice] system, are those of patience, sheer will, and faith. These souls are proof that humanity should not have and ultimately does not have the right to place the judgement of death on anyone — let alone an innocent person.”

New, younger characters added

The Exonerated Script Pdf

Donica introduces what he calls a “soul-character” to this updated version of the play.

“This particular piece is slightly different than the original in that I added a younger version of each of the exonerees to play alongside their older counterparts. All of these characters have some form of youth intact with them when they were tricked into the system. What interests me is how people stay in touch with their innocence.”

Exonerated man shares his story

Gary Gauger is one of the men whose remarkable story is recounted in the play. The Center on Wrongful Convictions helped overturn his conviction in 1996. The Illinois man was falsely accused and convicted of murdering his parents. Gauger spent less than 4 years in prison and nine months on death row before being released and later exonerated.

In the post-performance discussion moderated by CWC co-director and a professor at Prizker School of Law Laura Nirider, Gauger became emotional and said it was the grace of God that helped him through his ordeal.

“I went into it realizing I’ve got to turn this into a positive experience,” Gauger said while reflecting on his time in prison knowing he was an innocent man. “It was character building. I’m not afraid of too much anymore. It helped me grow up. I feel I am the same person I used to be, but I am more self-centered and empathetic.”

Gauger is now 69 years-old and is an organic farmer. He is also a frequent speaker in the fight to abolish the death penalty nationwide. When asked what it will mean for him when capital punishment is a thing of the past, he responded “It will be about time. An eye for an eye will leave a village blind.”

Collaborative project

“The staged reading of ‘The Exonerated’ reflects the role that art may play in political resistance to effect social change,” said School of Communication Dean E. Patrick Johnson, who performed the story of David Keaton. Keaton was one of five young African American men from Quincy, Florida who were charged with the 1970 murder of a deputy sheriff. They were all exonerated and pardoned in 1972.

Dean Johnson said “As an artist and scholar, it was a privilege to be able to be a part of an historic event. The collaboration between the Center on Wrongful Convictions, the Pritzker School of Law, and the School of Communication’s faculty, students, alumni and staff speaks to the natural synergies among social justice, the law and artistic practice.”

Current and former School of Communication students who performed in the reading include Nolan Robinson (’21), Riley Nelson (’21), Ryan Foreman (’20), Carson Stewart (’21), Emmet Smith (’21), Jay Towns (’22), Emiley Kiser (’21) and Scott Mikita (’88) and Jim Weitzer (’96). Bienen School of Music alumnus Carrington Vilmont (’00) also participated.

“The Exonerated” is not the only connection Jordan Donica has with the Center for Wrongful Convictions. Last fall, he released a music video in support of the Center, Black Lives Matter and the Innocence Project. In the video, Donica covers “If I Loved You” from “Carousel” while acting the role of a Black youth who has been detained by the police.

“The mission of this performance is a celebration and reflection,” Donica writes in his director’s note. “The Center for Wrongful Convictions does tireless work to not only exonerate those on death row who are innocent, but to abolish the penalty of death. ‘The Exonerated’ has a long and storied history of being performed to help spark the conversation around wrongful convictions and the death penalty.”

More work to do

Currently, 27 states and the federal government still allow capital punishment. On March 24, 2021, Virginia became the latest state to abolish the death penalty, and the first Southern state to do so.

The CWC first organized a performance of the “The Exonerated” in 2002 for then-Illinois Governor George Ryan. In 1999, Ryan issued a moratorium on executions in Illinois. A few weeks after seeing the play, Ryan commuted the death sentences of all the inmates on Illinois’ death row – more than 160. The moratorium and the mass commutation eventually led to the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois on March 9, 2011.

To date, 185 former prisoners have been exonerated across the country.

The U.S. death penalty is a huge and controversial topic, with strong opinions on both sides. But whatever you believe, there’s one anti-death penalty argument that’s hard to dispute: what if the state executes someone who turns out to be innocent?

That, as it turns out, is not as unlikely as we might hope; in the USA today, for every nine executed, one is proven innocent. Amicus, a small charity that helps provide representation for those facing the death penalty in the USA, hopes to raise awareness of this appalling statistic, and their own vital work to help those affected, in a special one-off production of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s The Exonerated on May 16th at Middle Temple Hall.

“The Exonerated is an amazingly powerful play that tells the story of six real-life cases of innocent people who were sentenced to death and subsequently exonerated,” explains Margot Ravenscroft, director of Amicus. “It’s not only their story but the story of many others still on death row, and the people in their lives. Told using extracts from actual court records and their own words, it’s beautifully woven together by the writers to leave the audience with a sense of the injustices and emotional anguish suffered by these people.”

The play debuted off-Broadway in 2002, and was later adapted into a movie starring Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover. For Margot and the team at Amicus, it’s become a very personal project: “I was incredibly moved the first time I saw this play, it’s a script that stays with you for life. And now, years on having personally met and worked closely with some of the people whose story this play tells, it is a real privilege to be able to produce it to benefit Amicus, in assisting people who still today face the death penalty without a fair trial process. To produce this play is something I have had in my mind for years; the impact of theatre and particularly this play on everyone who sees it live should not be underestimated.

“It’s the personal stories that touch us – the thought that but for the hand of fate it could be us, our daughter, our son. We are forced to be in their personal thoughts, drawn in by knowing the words are actually their words – not fiction but fantastical fact. The writers’ skill in bringing together these stories to a dramatic effect mean that you are left not only moved but emotionally wiser.”

The production brings together a stellar cast, including Jamie Parker, currently playing Harry Potter in the West End, barristers Leslie Thomas QC and Tunde Okewale MBE, and death row exoneree Sunny Jacobs, who plays herself. “I really wanted to have a cast with a mixture of professional actors and a few high profile legal personalities – barristers are perhaps all frustrated actors, after all,” says Margot. “Everyone who read the script was convinced. I gave Jamie Parker the script to read, knowing what a passion for justice he had. He agreed immediately, which was wonderfully touching. All of the actors have a real interest in the injustices of the world and an empathy to some of these powerful characters. Leslie and Tunde as civil rights barristers have a natural empathy with the issues of this play and understood its importance.

The exonerated play script online

The Exonerated Play Script Online

“This production is particularly poignant too, as Sunny Jacobs will be playing herself. If you’ve ever heard Sunny speak generally, she speaks from the heart and it’s an incredible experience to have her in this production; you almost hold your breath so as not to interrupt her. Peter Pringle, another exoneree, will be playing the part of Gary – again, this really does bring the emotion of the play to the surface. Peter and Sunny are actually also husband and wife, after finding love and a rare level of understanding not only in their shared experiences of being wrongly convicted, but also in their strength of forgiveness and positive energy that’s palpable in the words and actions. They now use that strength to run a sanctuary for exonerated prisoners in rural Ireland called the Sunny Center.

The Exonerated Script

The Exonerated Script

The Exonerated 5 Case

“I know that people will come away from this performance with a greater understanding of the humanity of people facing the death penalty, and that they’ll be moved by these personal and touching stories. But I hope that they’ll also leave with an understanding of the importance of human rights, and support Amicus who are working with these stories every day; these are intensely dramatic and personal tales, but they’re the stories of many, many more people that we help every day.”

Amicus was founded in 1992 by Jane Officer, in memory of Andrew Lee Jones, who was executed in Louisiana in 1991. The two had met and become friends through LifeLines, a UK-based organisation that provides support to death row inmates through letter-writing. Despite a lack of scientific evidence linking him to the crime, Andrew was convicted of murder by an all-white jury, in a trial that took less than a day. Details of his mental illness were withheld by the prosecution, vital mitigation was not presented and he was represented by an inexperienced lawyer who had never tried a capital case. Good representation could have saved Andrew’s life, but instead his death became the inspiration for Amicus.

“Today Amicus takes on a huge scope of work, supported by dedicated staff and volunteers,” Margot explains. “We provide pro bono caseworkers based in the UK; working with over a dozen different firms and more than 200 individuals we’re able to coordinate key work remotely that makes a huge difference. We also send out 30-40 U.S. based interns a year, who work directly with capital lawyers in eighteen different offices across the breadth of death penalty states.

“Our bi-annual training attracts high profile experts in the field of capital defence, and introduces UK lawyers to the key issues faced and important training in preparing a capital case. We also work on various constitutional projects in support of fair trials in capital cases. Recent success in the Supreme Court in the Bobby Moore case demonstrates what can be achieved; many dedicated Amicus volunteers made this possible. The ruling in this case will affect a great many cases involving intellectually disabled people facing the death penalty.”

The Exonerated Script Pdf

The statistics surrounding innocence on death row are undoubtedly shocking – but what can we here in the UK do to help? “I think that coming to see The Exonerated would be a start!” answers Margot. “Human rights abuses internationally are everyone’s responsibility; educate yourself and find out what the issues are. Support Amicus; with more support we will do much more and help many more people. We have limited resources, and rely on donations in order to do our work.”

The Exonerated Pdf

Tickets are on sale now for this special one-off performance of The Exonerated presented by Amicus on 16th May.

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