“Dead Man Walking” Comes to Banner Elk
Lees-McRae presents special stage show at Hayes Auditorium Nov. 7-11

When she first entered Louisiana’s Angola Prison in 1984 to visit a convicted murderer, Sister Helen Prejean had no idea of how life-changing the experience would be. She met and agreed to become spiritual advisor to a death row inmate and found her calling to question the American capital punishment system. She tells her story in Dead Man Walking, the stage version of the 1995 film, which will be presented by Lees-McRae College Performing Arts Nov. 7-11.

The title refers to a slang term used by prison guards when escorting death row prisoners from their cells to the execution chamber.

After the success of the film adapted from her book of the same name, Prejean said people began suggesting that she and Tim Robbins, screenwriter and director of the film, create a stage version to reach an even broader audience. Robbins agreed and wrote the version of the story planned for the Hayes Auditorium stage in Banner Elk. He and Prejean also agreed that the play would not be a commercial production; they release it only to colleges and high schools because they require any production to be an educational experience.

“In agreeing to produce Dead Man Walking, we promised to include other academic programs and to involve as many students and members of the community as possible,” said Dr. Michael Hannah, director of the LMC production. “The idea is to create discussion and provide an exchange of information about capital punishment so people will begin to think about their own opinions.”

This process began last spring when LMC chose Prejean’s latest book, Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, as the summer reading book for the incoming freshman class. Prejean herself visited LMC in late August as the opening convocation speaker, which continued the emphasis on the capital punishment discussion. Classes across the curriculum have gone on to use her book and her visit to generate discussions and class activities.

“It was such a great opportunity for me and the students to be able to meet Sister Helen and hear directly from her how her life changed as a result of what she thought was at first just a pen-pal relationship,” Hannah said. “I left the convocation ceremony and told the assembled Performing Arts students that they had just been offered a rare chance to actually meet the person one of them would be portraying on our stage.”

The play actually follows the film script very closely but differs in that Prejean addresses the audience and narrates some of the action, summarizing certain events that are not seen in the play. The LMC cast of 22 students will portray nearly 45 characters, from prison guards to grieving parents to politicians and lawyers. Many actors play more than one character, usually changing only small costume pieces to indicate a change in personality.

Scenic Designer Chris Carr will create a setting that can be adapted to become many different locations, from the prison visiting room to Prejean’s apartment to the execution chamber. Simple furniture changes make these locations possible, while computer projections of images and statistics will provide additional information for audiences to consider throughout the play.

In an additional effort to foster audience consideration of the play’s ideas, Hannah said talk-back sessions will be planned after several performances. Audience members will be invited to stay after those performances to listen to various speakers and exchange opinions on some particular aspects of the capital punishment situation.

The cast includes Lucy Geouge as Sister Helen and James Shimo as Matt Poncelet, the convicted murderer she befriends. Other cast members are John Lynne, Kasey McKittrick, Tonya Patterson, Saraea Adams, Adam Galloway, Michael Rogers, Dalton Dale, Lauren Wilde, John Warrick, Harrison Lee, Stephen Redmon, Drew Costan, Caitie Moss, Jake Sheffer, Bruce Bradberry, Jarrett Koski, Heather Leupold, Cat Langston, Stephen Mahaley and Justin Pope.

In addition to Hannah and Carr, the production team includes Lighting Designer Danielle Baisden Curtis, Costume Designer Dr. Tessa Carr, Sound Designer Jason Pickering, and Stage Manager Laura Smyth.

Dead Man Walking will be presented Nov. 7-8 and 10-11 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. in Hayes Auditorium on the Lees-McRae College campus in Banner Elk. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for students. No advance tickets are sold because seating is general admission. Dead Man Walking does contain some adult language, so it is not recommended for children.

For more information, call (828) 898-8709 or visit www.go.lmc.edu/performances.

Lees-McRae College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church U. S. A., located in the mountains of western North Carolina in the town of Banner Elk. The college is dedicated to service learning and offers majors in twenty-three academic disciplines.