The organization I’m studying abroad with is called CAPA: The Global Education Network. CAPA has a staff based in Dublin (out of Griffith) who have been incredibly helpful throughout my transition to Dublin, my classes, and my entire experience thus far. CAPA provides us with a number of awesome opportunities through a program called My Global City – they alert us about, provide transportation for, and cover the cost of events and activities across the city and the country as well. This past Sunday, we were afforded a once in a life time opportunity: the chance to go see The Exonerated performed in Galway.
The Exonerated is a play written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen that tells the true story of six wrongly convicted death-row inmates who were exonerated. I call this play a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” because at the particular performance we attended, one of the actresses was Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs herself, whose story is told in the play. Her partner, Peter Pringle, who was also a wrongly convicted inmate acted in the play as well.
To say the play was remarkable would be an understatement. The blocking was simple - each actor simply sat in a chair on the stage. As they spoke their stories in their own voices, the spotlight illuminated them. We watched 6 harrowing stories unfold at once, hearing pieces of one and then another, words from interviews, court proceedings, poetry, and diaries. It was simple, but it was stunning, and I was utterly captivated the whole time. It was amazing how unique each story was, and how differently each situation turned out. Some of the former inmates had family members commit suicide, some live out their free lives in solitude and addiction. Others flourished upon release. Sonny herself spoke beautifully about how letting go of her anger will be her revenge: blossoming will be her reprisal.
It tore me apart to be confronted by just how corrupted our justice system is. It’s not something I give thought to everyday, because it’s not something that affects me every day… not by a long shot. It’s contextually far from me so it seems easy to ignore. This performance made it impossible to claim ignorance, though. By the time the show ended (with a chilling a capella rendition of Amazing Grace sung from a dark stage), I was in tears.
After the show, Sunny got up to speak about her experience acting as herself. She said it was hard at first, but it ended up bringing a great deal of healing to be able to tell her story through theater. This performance was absolutely striking, and yet another moving example of how the arts, in all their forms, give people voice and visibility as well as outlet and remedy.