"The Exonerated"
Theatre review
"The Exonerated" at Ithaca College
The Ithaca Journal
October 16, 2008
671 words
"'IC Theatre's ‘The Exonerated' hampered by flawed script"
full text here
IC Theatre's ‘The Exonerated' hampered by flawed scriptBY MARK TEDESCHI • CORRESPONDENT • OCTOBER 16, 2008
“The Exonerated,” a politically driven piece of documentary theatre by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, opened the 2008-2009 season at Ithaca College; it ended Oct. 12.
Seeking to increase public awareness of the sporadic imprecision of the American justice system (and, in particular, the death penalty), Blank and Jensen, a married couple each with impressive acting resumes, interviewed many exonerated ex-prisoners and incorporated what they found into a play. It's been performed all over the country, produced as a movie for CourtTV, and received a host of awards from dramatic, peace, and law organizations.
Ithaca College Theatre's version, directed with a diligent balance between restraint and urgency by Cynthia Henderson, harnesses the potential of the actors and the stage; unfortunately, inherent problems with the script create some dramaturgical discord.
“The Exonerated” is presented as a chronological recollection by six men and women of their alleged crime and each of the accused's subsequent convictions, incarcerations, and exonerations. The play is divided smoothly and smartly into four portions (Introduction, Interrogations, Internment, and Exonerated), each bookended by slide guitar (Brendan Clark) and poetry by one of the exonerated, Delbert Tibbs (Max Lawrence).
The other players: Sunny Jacobs (Mariah Ciangiola), jailed for 22 years for the shooting of two police officers; Robert Earl Hayes (Thaddeus McCants), a black man accused of raping and murdering a woman; Gary Gauger (Alex Krasser), pressured into a faux confession of parenticide; Kerry Max Cook (Tyler Gardella), falsely convicted by bad fingerprint evidence; and David Keaton (Jeremy Reese), a black man hastily fingered for the killing of a police officer. Jaylene Clark and Kacie McEgan play smaller parts.
The acting, notably from Krasser and Reese, believably communicates the turmoil of an ordinary person catapulted into misfortune. They all wear casual clothing (Kelly McCaffrey, costume designer), reinforcing their innocent-bystander nature.
The set (Keeley Dorwart, scenic designer) houses but a few chairs; the lighting, sound, and blocking give the material strength. Characters are hidden within the audience, and when they're introduced, a bright spot (Christine Goldman, lighting designer) shines down as they tell their story and approach the stage. At one point, armed guards lit with yellow stroll the rafters overhead as in a prison. And often, characters adjust their placement so they can directly address different portions of the audience, helping along the emotional involvement.
Strictly structurally, “The Exonerated” makes sense, and the transitions are smooth enough. I wasn't sure how to pinpoint my lingering discontent until I listened to an NYU interview with the two playwrights wherein Erik Jensen said it for me: “You can't really argue with the fact that an innocent person shouldn't be executed.”
Exactly. That attitude, an I-dare-you-to-disagree conceit embedded in the fibers that hold this play together, is a mark of laziness. So I answer the challenge: If the justice system is so treacherous and corrupt, why are we so positive that the exonerated were actually innocent? Some of the accused had prior or subsequent convictions—why were they not mentioned?
I don't mean to ruffle feathers—that should be the playwrights' job. Instead, they rely on the fallacious notion that if a story is based on truth, its drama is credible. And if we suspend that notion, looking at “The Exonerated” as fiction, the one-sided stories appear preachy, predictable, and clichéd. Regarding execution of the real culprit, “It isn't gonna bring my parents back,” says one character. “Prison really did something to me,” says another.
Maybe the exonerated six actually said these things in all honesty, but as I heard several audience members wonder afterward: How much of the dialogue was taken literally from interviews? And I add: Does it matter? Blank and Jensen don't seem to specify, ostensibly because they took liberties. If you want actual interviews that dig deeply into a single case, watch Errol Morris's documentary film about false conviction, “The Thin Blue Line.”
If “The Exonerated” moves people to action—fantastic. But I think it would have benefited from a more prodding, provocative exploration. Ithaca audiences can handle it.
Labels: ithaca college, ithaca journal, review, theatre review
posted by Ted @ 9:21 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
"The Exonerated" - anti truth, anti victim - are any actually innocent?
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters, contact info below
The Exonerated is a true story just as CATS and The Lion King are.
Reviews of each case, with links for your own review.
1) Sunny Jacobs -- After the shooting, still at the scene of the murders, a trooper asked Jacobs: "Do you like shooting troopers?" Jacobs response: "We had to." There is no evidence to support a claim of innocence for Jacobs in the murder of two police officers in Florida. She eventually pled guilty to two counts of second degree murder and was released for time served, after 16 years. Hardly a finding of innocence.
The best review of the blatant dishonesty of this "Exonerated" case is
-- "The Myth of Innocence", By Josh Marquis
The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, March 31, 2005
Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, Illinois
joshmarquis(DOT)blogspot.com/2005/03/myth-of-innocence.html
-- "The Innocent and the Shammed", By Josh Marquis
New York Times, January 26, 2006
joshmarquis(dot)blogspot.com/2006/01/innocent-and-shammed-nyt-oped.html
-- "Not Guilty Isn't the Same as Innocent:
One DA's crusade to point out the fatal flaw in Court TV's The Exonerated
Michael Miner, CHICAGO READER, February 05, 2005
joshmarquis(dot)blogspot.com/2005/02/one-das-crusade.html
Mr. Marquis can be reached at CoastDA@aol.com, or 503-791-0012.
also go to pages 40-46 at
www(dot)floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/innocentsproject.pdf
2) Robert Earl Hayes Nothing about Hayes’ retrial changes the appeals court’s original observation that evidence existed to establish Hayes’ guilt.
Hayes has now been convicted of a nearly identical murder in New York, which was committed prior to the murder in Florida. Go to
no. 74 at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
and pages 43-46 at www(dot)floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/truelyreport.pdf
3) David Keaton -- Keaton's defense attorney stated that even without Keaton's numerous confessions, that the eyewitness testimony was likely sufficient to convict Keaton for the capital murder.
Through the testimony of numerous eyewitnesses, Keaton's numerous confessions, as well as those of co-defendants, Keaton was sentenced to death. There is no credible claim for innocence in this case of robbery/murder. The case was overturned on appeal. The prosecution chose not to re prosecute for a number of good reasons -- 1. he was no longer subject to the death penalty, because of changes in the law 2. Keaton was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a robbery that he committed ten days prior to the robbery/murder for which he was sentenced to death and 3. illness of witnesses.
Keaton was sentenced to death in 1971, under the old death penalty law. He was on death row for 13 months when the US Supreme Court overturned all death penalty cases in Furman v Georgia.
read pages 56-65 at www(dot)floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/truelyreport.pdf
4) Delbert Tibbs -- The Florida Supreme Court candidly conceded that it should not have reversed Tibbs' conviction since the evidence was legally sufficient.
The state prosecutor who chose not to retry Tibbs recently explained to the Florida Commission on Capital Crimes that Tibbs “was never an innocent man wrongfully accused. He was a lucky human being. He was guilty, he was lucky and now he is free."
See no.10 at http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
and pages 123-127 at www(dot)floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/Publications/truelyreport.pdf
5) Kerry Max Cook -- The judge, in accepting Cook's no contest plea, said that Cook was guilty of the crime and that the state was capable of proving its case.
This is not a DNA exoneration case.
From Jimmy Edwards, brother of murder victim Linda Jo Edwards
Bullard, Texas
"I am extremely upset at the inaccurate portrayal of the Kerry Max Cook case by the opponents of the death penalty and the Hollywood left. I sat through every one of Cook's trials and am aware of all of the evidence of his background and his actions after he killed my sister. Much of which has not been reported in the media. He has been convicted and given the death penalty by two (2) different juries. I am 100% convinced of his guilt. He is a convicted murderer and he was offered a plea only because of a ruling by an appeals court. On behalf of my family, I am glad that my father (who died in 2004) is not alive to see this mischaracterization of the truth."
Mr. Cook was convicted of the murder of Linda Jo Edwards, who was found in her apartment on June 10, 1977, beaten on the head with a plaster statue, stabbed in the throat, chest and back and sexually mutilated. Mr. Cook was arrested 2 months later where he worked as a bartender in Port Arthur. Officers said they found Mr. Cook's fingerprint on Ms. Edwards' apartment door. At first he denied knowing Ms. Edwards. Cook lied. He later said they met at the apartment complex's swimming pool and he went to her apartment. His original conviction resulting in a death sentence was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct. A 1992 retrial ended in a hung jury. He was again convicted and sentenced to death in 1994. That verdict was overturned in 1996. Before a 4th trial, Mr. Cook pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of murder. He was sentenced to 20 years time served. Mr. Cook took the deal so he could avoid a possible return to death row. By taking the plea, both Cook and his attorneys conceded that this is hardly a case where there is no evidence for guilt and certainly not a case with confirmable actual innocence.
for more on this case, contact David Dobbs at david(at)davidedobbs.com
6) Gary Gauger -- Gauger confessed to the murder of his parents. That confession was thrown out based upon the lack of probable cause to arrest him -- not because it was a false confession. However, two motorcycle gang members are incarcerated in the murders, based upon their discussions of the murders, gathered from law enforcement wiretaps. There was a connection between Gary, his parents and motorcycle gangs. Motorcyclists would shop at the Gauger's farm store. Even though there is speculation of a connection between Gary and the two convicted motorcyclists, law enforcement has not been able to confirm one.
Speculation as to actual guilt or innocence will continue in this case.
Furthermore, the trial court erroneously imposed a death sentence. The court granted a motion for reconsideration and vacated the sentence less than ten months later in September 1994. The trial court found that it had not considered all the mitigating evidence and concluded that Gauger should not be sentenced to death. People v. Bull, 705 N.E.2d 824, 843 (Ill. 1999); Chicago Tribune (9/23/94). Gauger served a brief time on death row. He was not properly sentenced to death by the trial court. He should never have been sent to death row because the trial court did not finally sentence him to be executed. Gauger’s case is an example of how consideration of mitigating evidence under current law results in a sentence less than death.
see no. 69 at www(dot)prodeathpenalty.com/DPIC.htm
Some additional articles:
"Cross-Examination for a Drama That Puts the Death Penalty on Trial", Adam Liptak, New York Times, January 27, 2005
www(dot)nytimes.com/2005/01/27/theater/newsandfeatures/27pros.htm
"Prosecutors take exception to Court TV film", Richard Willing, USA TODAY, 1/24/05http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-24-exonerated_x.htm
"The Myth of Innocence:Don't believe everything you see on CourtTV", Joshua Marquis, National Review, 1/27/05 www(dot)nationalreview.com/comment/marquis200501270742.as
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Audiences are being duped to further a political/social agenda. Theater critics simply don't bother to fact check and blindly accept and repeat whatever the producers tell them.
Only one theater critic, Tom Sime of the Dallas Morning News, bothered to see if the claims were true. His brief review resulted in this published comment: "Maybe three are actually innocent and three actually aren't. In any case, blind faith - in the criminal justice process or in the truth of crusading art- is best left at home."
"The Exonerated" is strictly a bit of anti-death penalty deception, which is not at all surprising. It appears that the Soros Foundation, through their Open Society Institute (OSI) is the primary benefactor of "The Exonerated" . The Soros Foundation may well be the largest financier of anti death penalty efforts, worldwide.
As their website states: "The Exonerated" —a new documentary play produced by The Culture Project a grantee of OSI's Criminal Justice Initiative and Arts Initiative—focuses on the stories of six innocent men and women who spent years on death row before being set free thanks to new evidence and emerging DNA technology." from sorosny(dot)org/crime/
Copyright 2002-2007
Dudley Sharp, Justice Matters
e-mail sharpjfa@aol.com, 713-622-5491,
Houston, Texas
Mr. Sharp has appeared on ABC, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, NBC, NPR, PBS, BBC and many other TV and radio networks, on such programs as Nightline, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O'Reilly Factor, etc., has been quoted in newspapers throughout the world and is a published author.
A former opponent of capital punishment, he has written and granted interviews about, testified on and debated the subject of the death penalty, extensively and internationally.
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