Dramatic performances and an interactive multimedia exhibit will highlight spring events on campus for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s year-long discussion of the death penalty.
“Still…Life, An Exploration of a Killing State, North Carolina,” an original play that examines the death penalty in North Carolina, will be presented by The Justice Theater Project and Carolina Performing Arts. It will be directed by Joseph Megel, an artist-in-residence in the department of communication studies. Performance dates are March 27-29 and April 5 at 8 p.m. and April 6 at 2 p.m. in Swain Hall. A post-show reception with a discussion facilitated by Rene Alexander Craft, a postdoctoral fellow in communication studies, will be held April 6.
The Justice Theater Project is an activist theater group. The group’s mission is to use the dramatic arts as a way to call attention to the needs of the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed. Photographic images projected throughout the performance will be provided by photojournalist Scott Langley from his documentary death penalty project.
Tickets are $15 adults, $12 students/seniors; March 27 is “Pay What You Can Night.” Tickets may be purchased in advance through the Memorial Hall box office on Cameron Avenue, (919) 843-3333, or at the door for all performances.
“Spectacular Justice” is an interactive media installation that creates a look at the death penalty through images and sound. The free, multi-media exhibit is designed by artist Joyce Rudinsky, an associate professor, in collaboration with multi-media lab director Mark Robinson, both in the department of communication studies, along with colleagues at the Renaissance Computing Institute. The exhibit opens March 28 with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. at the ITS Manning building. It is open every Friday and Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Social Computing Room from March 29 to April 26. The Social Computing Room is a 24-by-24-foot room with continuous video on all four walls.
Tim Robbins’ play “Dead Man Walking,” based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, will be presented by the department of dramatic art mainstage April 11-15 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road. The production is directed by department of dramatic art professor Julie Fishell and features a cast and crew of more than 30 undergraduates. Performance times are April 11, 13 and 14 at 8:15 p.m., April 12 and 15 at 5 p.m. and April 14 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 general admission, free for PlayMakers Repertory Company subscribers and dramatic art privilege card holders. Tickets are available at the door one hour prior to each performance. For information, e-mail ddamainstage@yahoo.com.
Free post-show discussions will be held April 12-14. On April 12, an inter-faith guest panel will explore “prisms of faith,” a conversation of religious histories, stances and actions on death penalty issues. On April 13, Sister Maureen Fenlon, the national coordinator for the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project, will lead the discussion. On April 14, the 4 p.m. post-show discussion will be moderated by Mark Kleinschmidt, executive director of the Fair Trial Initiative and a member of the Chapel Hill Town Council. The production team will discuss how they put together the play after the April 14 8:15 p.m. performance.
PlayMakers Repertory Company, UNC’s professional theatre in residence, will present the world premiere of “Witness to an Execution” April 23-27 in the Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre in the Center for Dramatic Art. Commissioned by PlayMakers, Mike Wiley’s new one-man play explores capital punishment, recounting tales inspired by candid and chilling interviews from death row in Texas. Wiley graduated in 2004 from UNC’s graduate acting program.
Shows will be at 8 p.m. nightly and 2 p.m. on April 27. Tickets are $24 to $32 and may be purchased at http://www.playmakersrep.org or by calling (919) 962-PLAY.
“Witness” concludes the inaugural season of PlayMakers’ PRC² series, which showcases gripping and topical stories, followed by engaging artist/audience discussions after each performance. Wiley, a Triangle-based actor and playwright, will be joined by death penalty scholars and activists for “Witness” post-show talks.
The communication studies and dramatic art departments and PlayMakers Repertory Company are part of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. New York’s Drama League named PlayMakers “one of the best regional theatres in America,” and the North Carolina Theatre Conference gave PlayMakers its Professional Theatre of the Year Award.
The events are part of Carolina Performing Arts’ year-long project, “Criminal/Justice: The Death Penalty Examined,” which uses the arts to foster discussion of the controversial issue. The project is made possible in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
