“The Exonerated” the real-life stories of six people wrongly convicted and sent to America’s death rows, opens Friday, February 17, 2006 at Visual Arts Collective ~ VaC, in the heart of the Linen District in downtown Boise.
The play is the first production of the joint venture between Spontaneous Productions Inc. and Visual Arts Collective and is presented with the intention of establishing the gallery as a multifaceted center for the arts.
Written by Erik Jensen and Jessica Blank, “The Exonerated”will continue its run on February 18, 24 and 25, and coincides with DEPARTURE, new work by Boise artist Sue Latta, currently on exhibit at VaC. “Sue’s work complements the play…makes you think about hardships in life; about pleasure and pain. Much like those who were exonerated might have felt,” says Anneliessa Balk Stimpert, who owns the gallery with her husband, Sam Stimpert.
Directed by Mike Silva, “The Exonerated” features Christina Kelly, Cherie Buckner-Webb, R.K. Williams, James McNorton, Buffie Main, Tony Park, David Rose, Marcus Hunter, Bryan McLaughin, Dayo Onanubosi, Spike Erickson, Marc Marshall, Christian Shiverick and Mike Silva.
Presented as a reading, “The Exonerated” recounts the real-life stories of six people who were wrongly accused, convicted, spent years on death row and were later exonerated of their crime. The authors, both actors, spent the summer of 2000 conducting phone and face-to-face interviews with 40 people who had been exonerated. Of the 40, they chose six, and traveled from Chicago to Miami and just about everywhere in-between to meet the people whose stories are depicted in the play. Blank and Jensen also dug into court transcripts and case file, and spent countless hours pawing through thousands of microfiche files, boxes full of affidavits, depositions, police interrogations and courtroom testimony, so that, with few exceptions, each word recounted in “The Exonerated” comes from public record. Even the names remain their own.
“The Exonerated” was first presented in Los Angeles in April 2002 by the Actors’ Gang (Tim Robbins, Artistic Director) in association with The Culture Project. In October 2002, it premiered in New York at 45 Bleecker Theatre and was produced by The Culture Project. It ran for 18 months and then made a nine-month national tour, including stops in Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Ft. Worth and Minneapolis.
During the course of its New York run and national tour, many well-known actors and singers including Josh Brolin, Peter Boyle, Brian Dennehy, Susan Sarandon, Jill Clayburgh, Jeff Goldblum, Mariska Hargitay, Bebe Neuwirth, Brooke Shields, Kyra Sedgewick, Marlo Thomas, Kathleen Turner, Eli Wallach and Aidan Quinn sat-in and read parts.
“The Exonerated” does not lecture and steers clear of being didactic. It tells the stories of six people in the simplest terms: what they said, what judges and prosecutors said, what policemen said. It isn’t high drama; it is simply the story of people who ran afoul of the law when the law was wrong. It happens all the time.
General admission tickets are $15.00. Bistro table tickets are available for $20.00 per seat (tables seat 4 each). Tickets may be purchased at the door on the day of the performance, in advance through www.ticketweb.com , by telephoning TicketWeb at 1.866.468.7624, or at any of the TicketWeb outlets listed below.
In Boise: The Record Exchange, 1105 W. Idaho Street; the Boise Co-op at 888 W. Fort Street; Newt & Harold’s Boards & Skates, 1201 Broadway Avenue.
In Eagle: Eagle Wood, 3210 W. Chinden Boulevard #135.
In Meridian: A New Vintage Wine Shop, 1400 N. Eagle Road #104, Meridian.
In Ketchum: Atkinson’s, 451 4th Street East.
For information and reservations please call 363.7053 or 573.0623.
