The Exonerated

No, it does not mean to be pardoned, nor is it to be set free. Someone wrongfully put on death row and later exonerated will never be free. Sure, maybe free from some legal charge of guilt and proved blameless afterall, but never free from losing years of his/her life to a DA's selfish and personal agenda to save his own ass by assigning guilt on an innocent fellow. Never free to live again because he is never free to forget - "The State of Texas executed me over a thousand times, man, and it just keeps doin' it". Those were words of a man who sustained the mockery of other inmates and stripped of his dignity with an undesirable souvenir: the word PUSSY carved on his bootie. Even after given back a life outside of jail, men and women who were once unduly sentenced to the death row will forever live in imprisonment. There is no deliverance here. There is no freedom.

Unaware of the subject and genre of the show, I walked into the Curran Theatre expecting a lively show with amazing broadway voices and dance routines to the likes of my most recent favorite, MaMaMia. But as I found my seat and looked up onto stage, the lady next to me asked if I were ready for a tough night. At that moment, I realized that what was to come on stage would be not for my entertainment. There before me were a row of stale chairs, little did I know - waiting to be filled with the voices of the previously incarcerated.

The cast members, 10 strong, delivered unbelievable stories which not only expose the corruption and ineptness of this country's justice system, but also underscores the sin of man. Man is selfish and cruel, unreasonable and conceited. Those in high places with power too often take advantage of it, leaving behind many unfairly wounded for life. The spoken words sounding through the theatre evidenced the pain, anger, misconception, and disappointment forced upon the lives of innocent individuals put on death row as well as the lives of their families. The stories brought forth the looming disorientation of the once convicted into the reality of the audience, percolating into the cracks of their own lives and yielding a discomfort as they sat in those lush theatre seats.

The audience, hardly the type who would seem to understand and therefore perhaps the target of the playwright, responded with OOOs and AAAs as pieces of each story were unraveled. I wonder if the audience, mostly white and hitting retirement age, if not already retired, recognized the intentions of the playwright. I wonder how they feel coming away from an intense and thought-provoking performance. The play dares the audience "to wonder who or why, or when, to wonder how, [which] is dangerous". Will the simplicity of this riveting and involved storytelling demand further thought about the implications of the play or will the audience forget about the facts displayed on stage last night? Will the complacency toward American politics be removed and interest be even slightly heightened? I overheard a man at the exit say, "I know for sure that that (the Exonerated) made me proud to be a lawyer." I don't know, man, just seems to me that maybe he should be ashamed to be a lawyer because much of the fault falls on DAs who have a personal agenda and/or interest and do not do their job.

I don't know. I also wonder how many times those men and women have told their stories. how many times they have repeated themselves. how many times it has been for them to now have the perfectly formulated words to tell a perfect story which procures sympathy. Am i wrong for questioning them? Am I just as bad as the rest of the system for judging them in such a way? Or perhaps in telling their stories, they find some logic and formula, a solace, which eases their minds from the wrong which ultimately ruined their lives. They exist in a never ending nightmare.

Poetry is hard to write at a time like this... but keep on singing!
-paraphrase fr The Exonerated