Lakewood, OH–Beck Center for the Arts is honored to announce an important production in the  realm of social justice, The Exonerated. 

The Exonerated, written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, is directed by local talent,  Colleen Longshaw Jackson, 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, and Abraham Adams. 

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. 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® are available for each performance. For  more information on the 2021-22 Professional Theater Season please visit beckcenter.org.  

The Studio Theater is inside Beck Center for the Arts 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.