Any discussion of the death penalty these days quickly gathers religious and moral overtones. Not many of these exchanges result in communication on the subject, which is why the Denver Victorian Playhouse’s production of “Dead Man Walking” is important.
Since Tim Robbins’ 1995 film version, for which both Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn were nominated for Oscars (she won), the derivative stage version has become part of “Dead Man Walking” School Theatre Project. This Glass Slipper Solutions production is a collaboration with CU (Boulder and Denver), Regis, DU, and Everitt Middle School.
Like abortion and war, executions are a magnet for red and blue polarization. Yet the play, like the film, lets everyone have their say, including the murderer himself, Matt Poncelet.
Played by Steve Pardun, Matt smolders in sullenness and withering cynicism, seasoning his exchanges with racist and sexist diatribes. Whether pacing his ominous death-
row cell or sitting and discussing points of legal strategy, Pardum is haunting, never letting us forget the explosive anger boiling just beneath his skin.
Matt is allowed to select a spiritual advisor, bringing Sister Helen Prejean into his life. Prejean – whose adherence to the teachings of Jesus rather than the church fathers causes friction with Catholic and civil authorities alike – is the perfect moral rudder for this true story.
Whether narrating story details downstage or at midstage performing the role itself, Terry Ann Watts fully inhabits Prejean’s spiritually centered life, creating a vibrant contrast between her love-based behavior and the vengeance-
filled instincts of other believers, of whatever so-called faith they may be.
Facing down the warden and the prison priest, as well as confiding her doubts to her mother, Watt’s Prejean shows her compassion and her conviction as a fully integrated life in the service of others.
Solid performances from the victims’ parents and a few other key roles provide a strong counterpoint to the question of Poncelet’s redemption. The remainder of the 20 performances vary in verisimilitude, according to experience, but are nonetheless consistent with the poignancy of director Angela Stringer Astle’s production.
Sleek flat-screen video monitors punctuate the action with dates, times, photographs and choice statistics, for example: the worldwide incidence of poverty (two-thirds of the planet at or below), consumption levels in the U.S. (48 percent of world use by 6 percent of the population), incarceration growth in the U.S. (500,000 in 1980, 1.1 million in 1990, 2.2 million in 2000), comparative funding support for education (down 25 percent 1980-90) and criminal justice (up 29 percent in same period) and images of the crime scene.
Concurrent with the increases in poverty, crime, incarcerations and executions is an increase in exonerations – an inseparable issue underscored in this story by Poncelet’s claims. DNA tests have exonerated nearly 200 people since 1986, while many more were refused such testing. Clearly, the death penalty is one of the central indicators of our direction as we come to the crossroads.
Bob Bows also reviews theater for Variety, for KUVO/89.3 FM, and for coloradodrama
.com. Reach him at bbows@coloradodrama.com.
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“Dead Man Walking”
DRAMA|Denver Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker St. | Written by Angela Stringer Astle | Starring Terry Ann Watts and Steve Pardun | THROUGH JUNE 3 | 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays | 2 hours, 40 minutes | $18-$20 | 303-433-4343, denvervic.com
