By Emily Duncan, Staff Writer
Kristyn Chalker, acting senior, performs as Sister Helen Prejean during a rehearsal for "Dead Man Walking" on Sunday in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. The show opens Thursday, March 24 in the Homsey Family Moot Courtroom in Sarkeys Law Center. Photo: Marianne Pickens/The Campus
TheatreOCU will perform a play with the intent to entertain and educate its audience.
“Dead Man Walking” is based on the memoir of Sister Helen Prejean and tells of her experiences in counseling inmates on death row in Louisiana.
The play will be performed 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24 through Saturday, March 26 in the Homsey Family Moot Courtroom in Sarkeys Law Center.
Dr. David Pasto, theater professor, said the actors are performing in the courtroom because the atmosphere fits the play’s message.
“As the theater department we want to connect with other parts of the university,” he said. “The play raises issues of legality around the death penalty and how it works in this country.”
The play will be a staged reading. Actors will read from scripts, though many of them know their lines, Pasto said.
The costumes are simple and no sets or props are used. We keep things simple to remind audiences these events were based on real events and people, he said.
“There will be actors, scripts and an audience,” he said. “We’re doing the basics of theater, but this is purposeful.
“We want to keep the focus on the characters, situation, and emotions, not on spectacles.”
The play was written with the intent to spark discussion about the controversial issue.
The play is part of the “Dead Man Walking School of Theater Project,” which requests schools to have discussions after every performance.
To fulfill this, there will be three different experts to follow each night’s performance with a discussion with the audience.
Krystal Rajkowski, dance management senior, is excited to hear the theater school is doing a play that entertains and also educates its audiences.
“I think this play will offer students the opportunity to spark discussions with one another, while hopefully helping to answer any questions we may have about such a controversial topic,” she said.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $6 for students, faculty and staff and $12 for general admission.
This article originally appeared in the March 23 issue of The Campus newspaper.
Leave a Reply