The Exonerated (play)

The Exonerated
Written by Jessica Blank
Erik Jensen
Date premiered October 10, 2002 (2002-10-10)
Place premiered 45 Bleecker Theater
Genre Drama

The Exonerated is a 2002 play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen that debuted Off-Broadway on October 10, 2002 at 45 Bleecker Theater and ran for over 600 productions. It won numerous awards including the Lucille Lortel Award award for Unique Theatrical Experience, the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. It was adapted into a 2005 film.

Plot

The work combines the first person narrative with legal records to tell the story of 6 wrongfully convicted inmates (Delbert Tibbs, Kerry Max Cook, Gary Gauger, David Keaton, Robert Earl Hayes and Sunny Jacobs).[1] The production is performed as an anthology by 10 actors seated behind music stands telling stories of the freed inmates that emphasize life after the death sentences, but that include much of the legal proceedings.[2]

Cast

The original cast was as follows:[1]

Productions

During the summer of 2000, Jensen and Blank traveled to interview 40 former death row inmates who had subsequently been freed by the state after having served as much as 22 years in prison.[3] After previews beginning on October 1,[3] the play debuted Off-Broadway on October 10, 2002 at 45 Bleecker Theater, directed by Bob Balaban.[2] The original run lasted from October 10, 2002 to March 7, 2004 and a revival of the play ran from September 19, 2012 to December 2, 2012 at the same theater, with a rotating cast that included Brian Dennehy, Stockard Channing, Delroy Lindo, Brooke Shields, and Lyle Lovett.[4][5][6] The play was later performed for a 16-week run at the Riverside Studios theater in London, where it was supported by death penalty opponent Amnesty International.[7]

In December 2002, the play was performed by a cast that included Richard Dreyfuss, Danny Glover and Mike Farrell in front of Illinois Governor George Ryan who was deciding how to handle death row inmates in light of the publicity surrounding those that had been convicted during Jon Burge's tenure.[8][9] On January 11, 2003, having lost confidence in the state's penal system,[10] outgoing governor Ryan commuted the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’ death row.[11][12]

In 2005, the play was adapted into a film of the same name, starring Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover and Brian Dennehy.[13] That February, Simon & Schuster published Jenson and Blank's Living Justice: Love, Freedom and the Making of The Exonerated.[9]

Awards

The original production, which went on to run for 608 performances,[14] won the 2003 Lucille Lortel Award award for Unique Theatrical Experience,[15] the 2003 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience,[16] and the 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play.[17] It has also won the The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Champion of Justice Award and Court TV's Scales of Justice Award.[3]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Isherwood, Charles (2002-10-13). "Review: ‘The Exonerated’". Variety. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  2. 1 2 Brantley, Ben (2002-10-11). "THEATER REVIEW; Someone Else Committed Their Crimes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Critically Acclaimed Hit Off Broadway Play, The Exonerated, Receives a Series of Theatrical and Cultural Accolades and Honors" (PDF). The Culture Project. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  4. ↑ "The Exonerated". Lortel.org. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  5. ↑ Jaworowski, Ken (2012-09-19). "When Justice Makes You Gasp: ‘The Exonerated,’ Revived at the Culture Project". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  6. ↑ Stransky, Tanner (2012-09-19). "The Exonerated". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  7. ↑ "Amnesty supports The Exonerated play". Amnesty International. 2006-02-20. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  8. ↑ Jones, Chris (2002-12-18). "`Exonerated' an enlightening evening for Ryan". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  9. 1 2 Bussel, Rachel Kramer (2005-04-11). "Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, playwrights, The Exonerated, authors, Living Justice". Gothamist. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  10. ↑ Wilgoren, Jodi (2003-01-10). "Illinois Expected To Free 4 Inmates". The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
  11. ↑ Ferkenhoff, Eric (2006-07-19). "Chicago's Toughest Cop Goes Down". Time (Time Inc.). Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  12. ↑ Flock, Jeff (2003-01-13). "'Blanket commutation' empties Illinois death row". CNN. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  13. ↑ Lowry, Brian (2005-01-26). "Review: ‘The Exonerated’". Variety. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  14. ↑ Hernandez, Ernio (2004-03-07). "Wrongful Imprisonment Drama The Exonerated Closes Off-Broadway, March 7". Playbill. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  15. ↑ Jones, Ken (2003-05-05). "2003 Lucille Lortel Awards Announced; Take Me Out, Avenue Q Big Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  16. ↑ Simonson, Robert (2003-05-19). "Hairspray Cleans Up at Drama Desk Awards; Take Me Out Is Outstanding Play". Playbill. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
  17. ↑ Gans, Andrew (2003-05-05). "Outer Critics Circle Award Winners Announced; Hairspray Leads the Pack". Playbill. Retrieved 2015-07-17.

External links

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