Today was the third play in our "Broadway in Baltimore" subscription. No cross-dressing hilarity today, though.
I don't follow theater, but The Exonerated was the only play in the series I'd never heard of. (The rest are musicals and comedy: Hairspray, Dame Edna, The Graduate, The Producers, Les Misérables, and Mamma Mia.)
It's hard to say I liked it. It was good, though...predominantly monolouge, it told the story of six death row inmates who were eventually found to be innocent of the crimes. The words are almost all from interviews that authors Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen did with the five men and one woman portrayed, although the stories are fleshed out (rather unsettlingly) with quotes from the court records.
The core point was made by Kerry Max Cook, who spent 22 years on death row in Texas before being cleared:
"I'm no different from you -- I mean, I wasn't a street thug, I wasn't trash, I came from a good family -- if it happened to me, man, it can happen to anyone."
This play wasn't a hard sell to me, because I am opposed to capital punishment. I'm not a big activist and it's not a subject I really relish debating...it's a deeply held belief, I state it as a fact.
Interestingly enough, through all my questioning of religion and faith, I think the belief has a spiritual basis. Certainly it's one of the few issues where I never disagreed with the Catholic Church.
Around my office lately it's come up because of the John Muhammad and Lee Malvo trials. Of anyone willing to express an opinion as to whether they should be put to death (that they are guilty is an assuption we are all making), I'm definitely in the minority saying no. A minority of one, in fact.
If Victor, or my sister, or one of my parents, or my niece, or my grandmother...etc., etc., etc...had been one of their victims, would I still feel this way? I've asked myself that. And it's an academic question, but the possibility was there...we shop in those shopping centers.
A few years ago a priest in a parish here was killed in his rectory. The DA considered requesting the death penalty but decided not to because of the views of the Church and the family. The murdered priest had strongly opposed capital punishment and had published his beliefs. The legal decision was a bit controversial, though, even here in liberal Montgomery County.
Some people thought it was ironic that the priest had essentially helped his killer escape death. I know some people in the parish; they thought it was an appropriate application of his faith.
It's easy for me to explain my position when talking about The Exonerated. Who is in favor of killing innocent people? It gets harder when the evidence against a criminal is strong, harder when it is close to home. That's when I realize this is a faith, not an opinion, and if I were going to pray, I'd pray my faith abides.
Posted by Nic at November 15, 2003 09:59 PM | TrackBack