[NEohioPAL] The Exonerated at Beck Center for the Arts

[Julie Gilliland]

Join us this Friday, Oct 15 for a free post-show discussion with a representative from The Ohio Innocence Project and an exonerated individual.


Beck Center for the Arts Announces The Spellbinding Docu-Drama,
The Exonerated


Lakewood, OH-Beck Center for the Arts<http://www.beckcenter.org/> is honored to announce an important production in the realm of social justice, The Exonerated<https://www.beckcenter.org/shows/exonerated>.

The Exonerated, written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, is directed by local talent,  Colleen Longshaw Jackson<https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-longshaw-jackson-959237169/>, and runs October 8 - November 7, 2021, in the Studio Theater. This cast of ten talented local actors includes Actor Equity Association members Amy Fritsche<https://www.kent.edu/theatredance/profile/amy-fritsche>, and Abraham Adams<https://abrahammadams.com/>.

This docu-drama recounts first-person narratives in dramatic form through the legal records of six wrongly convicted inmates. The accounts of the falsely-accused explore these people's lives after being sentenced to death, and the legal proceedings that gained their exoneration. Called "The number one play of the year.....intense and deeply satisfying" by The New York Times.

Director Colleen Longshaw Jackson says, "What drew me to this piece was the opportunity to showcase human resilience with an honest glimpse of the consequences and lasting effects trauma can have on a person. As we all fight to come out on the other side of this pandemic it is important that we recognize the cost to fight and realize that the effects will last far longer than the pandemic itself. As a nation, we will ultimately survive but we will forever be changed. And as some of us commit or recommit to social justice causes across the country we are challenged to 'Say Their Names' and 'Never Forget' until justice. The lives of the exonerated in this piece matter as well so we say their names and tell their stories, and my hope is that the audience will be inspired to act in some way to make our country a more just and equitable place to be. There are innocent people still suffering. Still waiting. The fight is not finished, and whatever your weapon; power, privilege, prayer - I urge you to pick it up and fight."

This play is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Tickets are currently on sale at 216-521-2540 x 10, on Beck Center's campus at 17801 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, Ohio 44107 or at beckcenter.org.<https://www.beckcenter.org/shows/exonerated> Ticket prices start at $34 (adults), $30 (for seniors 65 and older) and $12 for students with valid ID. A $3 service fee per single ticket will be applied at time of purchase. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Preview performances are 7:30 p.m. the Thursday before opening night, with general-admission seating for $10. $10 Smart Seats(r) are available for each performance. For more information on the 2021-22 Professional Theater Season please visit beckcenter.org<https://www.beckcenter.org/professional-theater>.

The Studio Theater is inside Beck Center for the Arts<http://www.beckcenter.org/> located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available. For more information visit beckcenter.org<http://www.beckcenter.org/>.

In anticipation of welcoming theater patrons back to The Senney Theater and Studio Theater spaces, Beck Center has made a number of investments in our HVAC and air filtration to provide a safe environment for our patrons as they return to the theater. All actors have been fully vaccinated, as well as backstage crew. Theater patrons over the age of two must be masked at all times inside Beck Center buildings, and patrons over the age of 12 must show a vaccination card (or copy, or image on a smart phone), or proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to entering the Studio Theater. For more information, please visit beckcenter.org<https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c9ae157ca525b79e8f35998/t/614246acb07e74561380e967/1631733421058/Return_To_Theater_FAQ_9-15-21.pdf>.

Beck Center for the Arts is proud to be a part of Northeast Ohio's professional theater landscape, operating under a letter of agreement with Actors' Equity Association. We are a Small Professional Theater (SPT) based on the number of seats, number of our performances, and the maximum weekly hours of work we provide to actors. We produce every show on our stages, by choosing the play, casting and rehearsing it, building the sets, props, and costumes, directing and performing the live music, and designing lights and sound. We proudly utilize regional resources and talent.

Beck Center thanks John P. Murphy Foundation for their generous support of this production.

Programming at Beck Center for the Arts is made possible through the generous support of the Ohio Arts Council. Beck Center gratefully acknowledges the generous funding provided by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization that offers professional theater productions on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for individuals with disabilities, free gallery exhibits year-round, and outreach education programming.

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