Post by CCADP on Mar 17, 2006 7:33:32 GMT -5
Can you handle the truth?
Docudrama at OCC is not for the squeamish
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/17/06
BY MICHAEL KAABE
CORRESPONDENT
BY JESSICA BLANK AND ERIK JENSEN
DIRECTED BY: Arthur Waldman
WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Saturday
WHERE: Ocean County College Theater Company's Fine Arts Theatre, College Drive, Dover Township
TICKETS: $20
INFO: (732) 255-0424
Brimming with ultra-realistic frankness and scalding with truth, "The Exonerated" opened at the Fine Arts Theatre of Ocean County College in Dover Township last weekend.
The drama plays like a black-and-white documentary film, dealing with the little-known truths behind six innocent individuals who were mistakenly convicted of murder and served time on death row.
What we hear and see is shocking and astounding, giving us insights not only into the cracks in the American justice system but the prejudices and falsehoods that are essential parts of those cracks.
The drama is based on extracted interviews, letters and transcripts of six people who were wrongly convicted of murder.
Gary Gauger is a Midwestern organic farmer who was convicted of killing his parents. As he sits on death row, he explains how he never got over the shock of finding their dead bodies and keeps wondering why and how they were killed and by whom. Shockingly, the only real evidence that associated him with the crime is that he found the bodies. His story, paraphrased, is simply that the justice system had to convict somebody, and it arbitrarily chose him.
After years on death row, the real murderer was found, and Gauger explains that he did not think that the murderer should be put to death, just jailed for life.
Delbert Tibbs, an African-American poet, landed on death row after being mistakenly convicted for the rape and murder of a white girl. Later the conviction is overturned. What is astounding about his case is that Tibbs did not even match the description of the real suspect and never should have been arrested. The remaining four stories are just as upsetting.
"The Exonerated" makes its characters three-dimensional by not only acting out limited parts of the characters' stories, but also by leaving us with an in-depth look at how the lives of the exonerated were brutally changed, if not completely taken away from them, even though at the play's denouement, they all are free.
The 10-member ensemble is thumbs-up in the acting department. The cast is highlighted by Edward C. Smith, South Toms River, as Delbert Tibbs, the gospel-singing poet. Also standing out is Wendi Klemple, Dover Township, as Sunny Jacobs, a charismatic yoga instructor whose husband was convicted and executed for killing a police officer.
Director Arthur Waldman wisely creates the play's serious mood by having actors costumed in come-as-you-are clothing, and virtually no setup — just 10 chairs and spotlights on the speakers.
As good an evening of theater that it is, "The Exonerated" is not for those who are sensitive about hearing graphic details of murder victims.
For an additional touch of authenticity, various members of the Ocean County justice system appear in cameo roles.
Docudrama at OCC is not for the squeamish
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 03/17/06
BY MICHAEL KAABE
CORRESPONDENT
BY JESSICA BLANK AND ERIK JENSEN
DIRECTED BY: Arthur Waldman
WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Saturday
WHERE: Ocean County College Theater Company's Fine Arts Theatre, College Drive, Dover Township
TICKETS: $20
INFO: (732) 255-0424
Brimming with ultra-realistic frankness and scalding with truth, "The Exonerated" opened at the Fine Arts Theatre of Ocean County College in Dover Township last weekend.
The drama plays like a black-and-white documentary film, dealing with the little-known truths behind six innocent individuals who were mistakenly convicted of murder and served time on death row.
What we hear and see is shocking and astounding, giving us insights not only into the cracks in the American justice system but the prejudices and falsehoods that are essential parts of those cracks.
The drama is based on extracted interviews, letters and transcripts of six people who were wrongly convicted of murder.
Gary Gauger is a Midwestern organic farmer who was convicted of killing his parents. As he sits on death row, he explains how he never got over the shock of finding their dead bodies and keeps wondering why and how they were killed and by whom. Shockingly, the only real evidence that associated him with the crime is that he found the bodies. His story, paraphrased, is simply that the justice system had to convict somebody, and it arbitrarily chose him.
After years on death row, the real murderer was found, and Gauger explains that he did not think that the murderer should be put to death, just jailed for life.
Delbert Tibbs, an African-American poet, landed on death row after being mistakenly convicted for the rape and murder of a white girl. Later the conviction is overturned. What is astounding about his case is that Tibbs did not even match the description of the real suspect and never should have been arrested. The remaining four stories are just as upsetting.
"The Exonerated" makes its characters three-dimensional by not only acting out limited parts of the characters' stories, but also by leaving us with an in-depth look at how the lives of the exonerated were brutally changed, if not completely taken away from them, even though at the play's denouement, they all are free.
The 10-member ensemble is thumbs-up in the acting department. The cast is highlighted by Edward C. Smith, South Toms River, as Delbert Tibbs, the gospel-singing poet. Also standing out is Wendi Klemple, Dover Township, as Sunny Jacobs, a charismatic yoga instructor whose husband was convicted and executed for killing a police officer.
Director Arthur Waldman wisely creates the play's serious mood by having actors costumed in come-as-you-are clothing, and virtually no setup — just 10 chairs and spotlights on the speakers.
As good an evening of theater that it is, "The Exonerated" is not for those who are sensitive about hearing graphic details of murder victims.
For an additional touch of authenticity, various members of the Ocean County justice system appear in cameo roles.