Dead Man Walking is a 2002 play written by Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins

Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...

 based on Dead Man Walking, a book by Sister Helen Prejean

Helen Prejean

Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J., is a Roman Catholic religious sister, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, who has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.-Death row ministry:...

 about her experiences as a chaplain on death row

Death row

Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...

. Sister Prejean's book has also been made into a film

Dead Man Walking (film)

Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American drama film directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the non-fiction book of the same name...

 starring Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

 and Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...

.

Rather than having it produced professionally, in 2004 he offered the play to schools and colleges throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, particularly Jesuit

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 schools. It is part of a three-year project designed to foster discourse and discussion about the death penalty. The project, titled The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project http://www.dmwplay.org, is managed by the Death Penalty Discourse Center where Sister Prejean now bases her work.
The University of Scranton was one of the original Jesuit Universities to perform the play in their 2004-2005 season.

History of the Play

Sister Helen Prejean, who had become an internationally known human rights activist as a result of writing "Dead Man Walking," first conceived the idea of a stage version of her work in 1998 after reading a New Yorker magazine article that said Arthur Miller's play, "Death of a Salesman," had been performed a million times, and was performed every day somewhere in the world. Sister Helen realized that if "Dead Man Walking" could be made into a play its impact would be expanded..

Sister Helen had previously worked with Tim Robbins on the film version of this story, and invited him to write a stage play of her story. Tim accepted the invitation to crafting a stage adaptation.

Tim Robbins chose to not take the play to Broadway but instead to "use the play as a tool to create deeper reflections on the death penalty in our nation's high schools and colleges." The performance requirements are that any school mounting a production must also involve at least 2 academic departments to offer courses pertaining to the death penalty.

According to the Catholic Mobilizing Network and the play's website.

Since the launch of the project in the fall of 2003, more than 200 high schools and colleges across the country have produced the play, conducted academic courses on the death penalty, and brought the issue to life on their campuses through art, music, and public education and action events.

Participating Schools

More than 200 educational institutions — high schools, colleges, and universities — have produced the play in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and also in Canada, England and Africa.

In the upcoming 2011-2012 season, participating schools include: American University (Washington, DC), Pope John Paul II Catholic High School (Huntsville, AL), Bishop Blanchet High School (Seattle, WA), Archbishop Hoban High School (Akron, OH), Analy High School (Sebastopol, CA), Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, CA), Clarke University (Dubuque, IA), Beaumont School (Cleveland Heights, OH), Christian Brothers High School (Sacramento, CA), Pittsburg State University (Pittsburg, KS), Fulton Montgomery Community College (Johnstown, NY), Shawnee High School (Shawnee, OK), and Choctaw High School (Choctaw, OK). Analy High School Sebastopol Ca

This play was performed by the King's College Theatre Department under the direction of M. Sheileen Corbett in February 2008 as part of Tim Robbins experiment. The show's cast was mainly made up of students and faculty members as well as members of the community. Sister Helen Prejean came to speak at King's College just days before the show opened and spoke with the entire campus community about her experiences. She also addressed those who were to be performing in the play during her presentation and attended a dress rehearsal.

Required Tie-in of Play Performance to Activism

According to the official website of the play,

For the rights to produce the play, Tim requires that at least two academic departments in the school incorporate the issue of the death penalty into their curriculum for at least a semester within that year. Tim's sense of partnership is also reflected in his request that the students and faculty give him feedback on the play so he can improve upon the telling of this powerful story.