Theatre v. The Death Penalty

OneWorld UK

By Lorna Lythgoe

Were having a good week in the Death Penalty Team. With over 20,000 people on death rows across the world waiting to be killed by their own governments, its not often that Piers Bannister is able to pronounce such a positive verdict.

But 1,200 people were withdrawn from death row in The Philippines on Easter Monday, and Mali and South Korea have proposed bills to abolish state executions.

So Bannister and the rest of Amnesty Internationals Death Penalty Team allow themselves a little optimism.

Although at least 2,148 people were executed in 22 countries last year, they say, look at the overall trend: the number of countries carrying out executions halved in the last 20 years and in 2005 dropped for the fourth consecutive year.

The vast majority of the killings (94 per cent) took place in just four countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US.

Even within the Big Four, there are positive developments. Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General, points out that the US, which was the world's main killer of juvenile offenders, has now ended the practice.

The US Supreme Court decision banning the execution of juvenile offenders is one of the final milestones on the road to a remarkable human rights achievement: the global abolition of death penalty for children," says Khan.

Among the many terrible aspects of the death penalty around the world including, for example, cases of trial and sentencing in a language not spoken or read by the defendant the execution of innocent people is among the worst.

A production at Londons Riverside Theatre, The Exonerated, tells the harrowing stories of six people who were later found to be innocent and pardoned, but only after years on death row.

The six stories are told in the characters own words, taken from interviews, letters and legal transcripts. Earlier this month, one of the real victims, Sunny Jacobs, took her own part. Jacobs, who had a nine-year-old son and a 10-month-old daughter at the time she was sentenced to death, was incarcerated for 17 years before being exonerated.

Other members of the cast also change: Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, Silverado, Hill Street Blues) was on stage for the 11-15 April performances at the Riverside, and Vanessa Redgrave is booked for 4 May.

The Exonerated ran for a year-and-a-half in New York and then toured the US for nine months. Its success has launched it beyond US shores and it continues to provoke and inspire as it tours around the world. But in Britain, where the death penalty was abolished in 1967, isnt it preaching to the converted?

No, says Bannister, its good to remind people why the death penalty is so wrong. In any case, he adds, Britains a nation of travellers, with people mixing with the rest of the world and taking their views with them. Its helpful if its population is educated about the death penalty.

* The Exonerated is at The Riverside Studios until 1 June. Info: 8237 1111.

Lorna Lythgoe is a freelance writer, film-maker and ex-talk radio presenter who has moved into the development sector in order to contribute to a fairer and more sustainable world.

* The Exonerated
* World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
* Amnesty International's Death Penalty report 2005
* US: states negligent in use of lethal injections