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Execution of Justice
By Emily Mann
Directed by Gary Griffin
Produced by About Face Theatre
At Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theatre
2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
Call 773-871-3000, tickets $20 - $45
Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 pm
Saturdays at 5 & 8:30 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 2hours, 10 minutes with intermission
Through February 18, 2007
Gripping documentary drama outlines the assignation of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.
About Face Theatre, under the deft direction of Gary Griffin, delivers a chilling documentary theatre drama of the motivation behind Dan White’s cold blooded assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California in 1978. Featuring an all-star cast including Sean Fortunato, John Judd, Steve Key (as Dan White), LaShawn Banks, Ora Jones, Keith Kupferer, Amy Matheny, Larry Neumann, Jr., Mark Richard, Elaine Rivkin, Kelli Simpkins and Freddie Sulit, Execution of Justice unfolds briskly from the assassination to the trial to the riots to White’s death.
The powerful drama uses excellent videos from Logan Kibes and underscoring from live percussion from Andy Jones and Bob Garrett to enhance the experience of the documentary. The horrors of the killings and the feeble defense by Dan White’s attorney, knows as the “Twinkie Defense” (too much sugar), contributed to White’s diminished capacity strategy. Amazingly, it worked to get White convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter that carries a 7 year, 8 month maximum sentence in California. White only served slightly over 5 years for murdering two elected government officials. The show outlines the facts of the case as well as a profile of Dan White in an attempt for us to understand why he cold-bloodily shot these two men simply because they wouldn’t reappoint him to a city councilman’s seat that White resigned earlier. The fact that Harvey Milk was gay quietly plays into picture.
The underlying bias against gays in San Francisco plays heavily in both the defense strategy and in the minds of the homophobic jury. This play is a warning against repeating such alarming travesties of justice against gays, blacks, Arabs, etc. The play grips us and features terrific acting as it methodically presents the miscarriage of justice. This is an important work that is a timely wakeup call for us.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 24, 2007
Jeff Recommended
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