The Exonerated: A Play

What effect does it have on a person--a soul, a life--to have freedom and self-respect stripped away and then, ostensibly, returned years later after decades of incarceration? The Exonerated attempts to answer this question through the words of six innocent men and women who, after years in jail, emerged from death row to try to reclaim what was left of their lives.

Among them are Sunny Jacobs, a mother of two whose unwavering belief during sixteen years in jail that she would be released (despite the execution of her husband, who was also innocent, for the same crime) allowed her to dedicate herself to being a "living memorial" when she was freed. There is Kerry Max Cook, a Texan who was convicted of murdering a young woman even though she was found with another man's hair grasped in her fist--a man whom "Texas killed a thousand times, and just keeps on doing it" in his nightmares. And there is Delbert Tibbs, a black Chicago poet who speaks of his years on death row with anger and bitterness, yet also, as he says, "still sings." All their stories have been compiled and edited by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen into The Exonerated, a play that is both a riveting work of theater and an exploration of the dark side of the American criminal justice system.

This is a great play, When you're reading it it feels more like you're watching a documentry , rather than a play that someone has created. I think the writers have done a great job in giving us an inside look into being a prisoner or a loved one of a human being on death row. I think this is a really brave play and it has something to say. However if you're after something upbeat, this is not the play to read.

whereas Bush killed more in Texas, with Al GOnzo's ineffectual five minutes "clemency" rubber stamp reviews, than any other governor in history since Vlad the Impaler.

This important play for today tells us in the condemned innocents' own words why we must cease being a rogue nation and rejoin the community of civilized nations by outlawing capital punishment. Look at the short list of nations which still practice the barbarism which is the death penalty, and decide which list you stand with.

Read the words of these innocents driven mad by the fatal, inexorable and casual uncaring injustice of our system.

What purpose has the death penalty? It is no deterrrent. We have known that since James Joyce outlined the objections in his Episode Twelve of Ulysses. The Catholic Church continually condemns its immorality and injustice as a pro-life issue. Yet we kill on. Why?

I first SAW this play at the Edinburgh Festival. It is immensely powerful. It gives the story, in their own words,of a number of people who have been unjustly or erroneously accused of crimes and sentenced to death in the USA, and have spent time, sometimes decades, on Death Row. These people were eventually found innocent, but the play also has much to say about the justice system, prison conditions, and human courage and cowardice.The humour, resilience and lack of bitterness is stunning. My copy is now being passed round on Death Row in Ohio.

This play is very well written. The story just makes you know what people's lives are like after they are convicted of a crime that they never commited. If you want something real and new than this play is for you! This play is very creative and well thought out for the viewer,reader, and actor to enjoy.

Truth is a very scary thing but it's something we should all know. I went into it knowing the of the horror that is present today and it was still a very touching story. (Probably due to the personal feel it swelled with) For those who aren't aware of the injustice that is so prominent, this would be groundbreaking. It's an amazing play and personally, I think it's better than "I AM MY OWN WIFE".