South’s theatre has produced some shows with heavy content, but none in recent memory have brought up as much discussion and reflection on the part of the audience as Dead Man Walking.
The play is an adaptation of the book by Sister Helen Prejean about her time and experience being a chaplain and spiritual consultant to a death row inmate in Louisiana. However, this show raises more moral questions than just that of capital punishment.
The play follows Prejean, played by Senior Xae Grace, as she recounts her experience corresponding with death row inmate Matthew Poncelet, played by Senior Desmond Ducy. Poncelet is accused of the murder and rape of teenager Hope Percy, played by Junior Rosie Sellevaag, along with the murder of Walter Delacroix, played by freshman Declan Kelly.
Prejean works not just to try and reduce his sentence from the death penalty to a life sentence, but also attempts to mentor and guide him spiritually.
The show brings to light questions about the nature of capital punishment, with it both starting and ending with a murder. It asks the question, is there a deeper cost to killing another human? The writer wants the audience to reflect on the nature of this work of execution and if the “I’m just doing my job” excuse gives pardon for their participation in the killing of another human being.
The play takes great lengths to humanize Poncelet while not detracting from the weight of the abhorrent crimes he perpetrated. The audience learns the core of Prejean’s argument against the death penalty.
Both the quantifiable and the moral costs of killing another human are extreme. In fact, the play itself mentions that it costs about $ 2 million to execute a death sentence. Prejean’s focus isn’t on the financial cost, but on the spiritual price.
Prejean tells her story to show the audience that the spiritual price a society pays for condoning the killing of another human being is infinitely larger.
How can a society that bases itself around the equality of human beings and the precious nature of human life affirm that killing a criminal is just? Capital punishment breaks the tenements of the most basic code of society, that human life deserves respect.
Through the acting of the victim’s parents, the audience clearly understands how the loss of a child has devastated their life. The parents become enraged when Prejean tells them that she is corresponding with Poncelet, urging her to “choose a side” of the battle, and to stop talking to Poncelet.
Dead Man Walking’s set takes place within a prison. With the cold, grey, industrial walls and red highlight paint along with the harsh lighting, it helps to convey the sense of isolation and security found in a maximum security prison.
When not in the prison, lighting and alternate props were used to help convey the atmosphere of the new area. My only complaint, in terms of the set, was that I often found it too detailed. Videos and recordings were also shown in the background during crucial scenes, giving the effect of flashbacks or memories in the minds of the different characters.
I found it slightly hard to determine where the actors were supposed to be at any given moment besides being in a prison. The clever use of lighting did help, but I still had issues determining where the action was supposed to be happening.
The show also experimented with new multimedia techniques as mentioned before, mostly to great success. Throughout the show, the audience catches glimpses of them in the background of the stage as Poncelet and the video recordings recount the details of his horrific actions.
The videos and photos of both the actors and the real people involved in the case were haunting and provided a great background reference to view when it was just two characters speaking.
However, during one powerful moment, when the mother of the murdered Hope is talking about how her daughter’s mangled body was found, there was footage from Tom and Jerry with audio playing in the background that I thought was far too distracting from the scene.
While I love the juxtaposition of a child relaxing and watching an innocent television show with the horrific details of the murder, I think it would’ve been far better if the background footage was dimmed and that there was no audio, so that all the focus would be on the actors in what I thought was an extremely heavy scene.
I loved all of the actors, and didn’t find any of them lacking. The delivery of their lines was extremely well done, and I thought they did a great job at leaving silence between the lines to really let their words sink in. It felt natural, realistic, and because of that, powerful.
The show ended on what could be considered an optimistic note, as Prejean continues her work helping the disadvantaged, and eventually meets the father of one of the victims to pray with him. It gives hope to the audience that even after a great tragedy, people can build themselves back up and keep moving forward.
On the way back home, I kept reflecting back on the phrase “I’m just doing my job”.
Dead Man Walking brought to light not just the questions about capital punishment that were intended when it was created, but also questions regarding when a moral responsibility outweighs things you are required to do.
South struck gold in choosing to tell this story today, and the amazing cast and crews both worked to make this show stick in your mind long after the curtain closed.
