By Richard Pacheco
While most theater companies plunge
into summer with light hearted plays or sheer comedies, 2nd Story
has propelled itself into summer with an often compelling indictment of the
judicial system in America, called “The Exonerated” a play culled from real life from interviews, court documents,
letters and case files complied by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. These
ordinary people were wrongly convicted and on Death Row, and one was executed. The resulting drama is
chilling and disturbing to witness the legal and moral wrongs involved and the
corruption that led innocent people to be sentenced to death.
There is no set. The actors merely
stroll about the Bristol Statehouse courtroom telling their tales of woe and
miscarried justice. The roots of their failed justice are similar, from cops
who railroad then for convictions, or being black in a white man’s world, or
being rated out by a professional criminal. Taking its inspiration from real
life details, it is a harrowing tale of justice gone awry with tragic
consequences.
The tales go from their arrests to
their time and death row and its consequences for them and their loved ones.
Not only is is disturbing and shocking, it is also at times profoundly moving
and touching.
The strength they show is nothing
short of amazing as is the humanity they show and how they deal with their
circumstances.
Tom Chase’s Gary
was talked into confessing to the brutal murder of his parents. He cannot
recall committing the crème, but relentless investigators will not let up unto
he confesses. The investigators think he might have blocked it out and are
looking for a quick solution and he is the target..
Joe Henderson’s Kerry is convicted
of the murder of a woman he met once. Her boyfriend, is never a suspect to the
police in the charade of justice. In prison, he is gang raped and they cut an obscene
and demeaning phrase into his flesh. The repercussions ripple through the
years.
Amos Harmrick, Jr. is a man who
works at a stable, love horses and finds all that taken away from him even
after he is released.
Edward V. Crews is David who
laments losing his spark for life in the ordeal.
Joanne Fayan is Sunny, probably one
of the most harrowing tales ins these tragedies. She and her husband are
convicted on the word of a career criminal who murders tow police officers and
blames them for a deal, taking advantage of the system, he who talks first gets
the better deal.
The killer eventually recants his
testimony, but not before she has been in prison for ten plus years and her
husband has been brutally executed. Meanwhile her parents die and her children
grow up. Her husband Jesse endurse4 a horrific death, being jabbed with
electricity three times and taking thirteen minutes to die. Flames smolder from
his head and smoke from his ears.
The two, in order to evade
detection by guards write love letters to each other in Japanese, which they
got from dictionaries. It is powerful and moving.
Ricardo Pitts-Wiley is Delbert, the
poet of the group. He is a black man caught up in a messed up system and still
manages to herald the country as a great one in spite of the injustice paid to
him. As he puts it, he is a poet and
it’s not easy, but “he sings.”
This production does the same
thing. With a stunning cast, it soars past the injustices to leave a passionate
and positive view of people overcoming great inequities and difficulties, in a
world stacked against them. The terrific cast comes from 2nd Story
and from Mixed Magic Theatre.
Ed Shea directs with a firm touch,
keeping the focus on these people overcoming these injustices while maintaining
their humanity and the intense character these people find along the way.
“The Exonerated” runs through June
30 at the Bristol County Statehouse courtroom, 240
High Street in Bristol.
Tickets are $30. Call 401-247-4200 or go to http://www.2ndstorytheatre.com
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