Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen wove together six real-life stories of survivors of death row from the 40 they researched painstakingly over two years. The Exonerated does not aim for histrionics - this is not so much a play as a plea for justice, but its dignity and bravery are ultimately uplifting.
First presented in New York in 2002, where it ran for 18 months, it has since been seen all over the world, including at the United Nations and in a sell-out season at Riverside Studios in 2006. Awards, both artistic and humanitarian, have been heaped on it and famous actors, including Stockard Channing and Susan Sarandon, have appeared in stage and film versions.
This new cast, under Jaclyn McLoughlin’s understated direction, become powerful channels for the words of the victims of racial prejudice or ambitious cops. Hippy Sunny (Lisa Eichhorn) lost her innocent husband to a brutal, botched electric chair execution. Remarkably, despite 16 years’ wrongful imprisonment, she grasps life positively.
With no more than half a dozen chairs and some judicious lighting to help them, Gary (Glenn Carter), Robert (Gabriel Fleary), David (Cavin Cornwall) and Kerry (Ian Porter) recount the horrors of male rape, humiliation and the execution of friends. Derek Griffiths’s Delbert provides a linking chorus - “It’s not easy to be a poet here, yet I sing. We sing”.
Having no death penalty, we might be tempted to smugness, but the UK has had its own miscarriages of justice. The Exonerated emphasises the continuing effects even after release. As Delbert says, “You can’t allow yourself to feel in prison - you’ve got to practise when you get out.”
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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