Absolution

Abstract

My thesis project was inspired by the story of Curtis Flowers – an innocent man tried six times in Missouri for the same murder. Mr. Flowers sat on death row for more than twenty-three years before his conviction was finally overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. Currently there are more than 2,300 people sitting on death row in the United States – historically more that 4% of all people executed in the United States are later exonerated.

Typically on death row we might expect to find a priest helping a convicted murderer find forgiveness in the closing hours of his life. But what if it was the priest who actually needs forgiveness?

In my play Absolution, Michael Ryan sits on death row in East Texas after being convicted of the murder of his abusive father. On the day of his scheduled execution, he is visited by his older brother Brennan. Brennan is a priest who has counseled inmates on the same death row unit for several years.

In this play we put the whole idea of forgiveness under the microscope – what it means to forgive and how this concept intersects with religion and reality. We come to find out that a sister committed a ‘mortal sin’ by taking her own life and as such she never had a chance to ask for forgiveness – so what does that mean for her soul? The prison guard, a devout Christian, has no place in his heart for forgiveness while at the same time sees his job as carrying out the Lord’s work. Michael has made peace with his fate even after accepting the truth that he is sitting on death row in the place of the true killer, seeing it as a sacrifice for his brother. His sole concern is for his brother to find his own forgiveness.

The Bible says that a greater love has no man than this - that a man lay down his life for his...brother. This adage is put to the test in my play Absolution.