Dead Man Walking
School Theatre Project
View the webcast of Sister Helen Prejean's lecture on Saturday, February 23:
Ashland University proudly hosted the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project i
n February 2008. An outreach program of the Death Penalty Discourse Network, an organization created by Sister Helen Prejean, it is a series of events dedicated to initiating dialogue on the controversial issue of capital punishment.
As part of the Project, the Ashland University Department of Theatre produced the playDead Man Walking. Written by actor/director Tim Robbins and based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, the play examines the death penalty through the eyes of a nun. Dead Man Walking is the true story of Sister Helen Prejean’s interactions with a death row inmate. Venturing into mortal and moral combat, the Sister risks alienating herself from the grieving families if she supports the murderer, yet she risks failing her conscience should she turn her back on him. As a servant of God, should she pray for the souls of the dead or for the soul of the killer? Can she pray for both? Is it an eye for an eye, or do we turn the other cheek? As Sister Helen soon learns, there are no easy answers. Photo by Maurer Photography.
In addition to producing this probing play, at least two academic departments in the school must incorporate the issue of the death penalty into their curriculum for at least a semester within that year. The Department of Theatre, along with the Ashland Center for Nonviolence and the Office of the President, sponsored Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, to speak at the University on Saturday, February 23, 2008. She spoke to an audience of almost 400 about her continuing journey to end the death penalty, followed by a question and answer session and book signing. Sister Helen also honored us with her presence and approval at the theatre production that evening. Please click on the link at the top of the page to see the webcast. In addition, the Departments of Criminal Justice, English, Philosophy, Religion, Social Work, and Theatre have included the script or book in their curriculums for the 2008 spring semester. The Department of Art is hosting an art exhibit entitled A Prognosis of Death, which features artists from Paris to Chicago, displaying their interpretations of the death penalty. In addition, Art sponsored an artist’s lecture by Lou Jones, co-author and photographer of Final Exposure: Portraits from Death Row. The Ashland Center for Nonviolence sponsored Howard Zehr, a speaker on Restorative Justice. Melinda Elkins from the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati andformer Ashland County Prosecting Attorney, Robert P. DeSanto, also discussed the death penalty from differing viewpoints. For a detailed list of events, please refer to the Schedule of Events. For more information on our featured speakers and their organizations, please refer to Justice Speakers and Organizations.
More than 65 schools have participated in the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project since 2004, and the Department of Theatre is excited to have jumpstarted this project at Ashland University and to have so many others across campus participate. We hope that you will participate in some or all of our events as we examine one of the most controversial issues of our time.