Death sentences and executions for female offenders are rare in comparison to such events for male offenders. Women are more likely to drop out of the death-penalty system the further it progresses. Lena Baker in 1944 was not as lucky.
Stats for women and the death penalty in the U.S. -
* women account for about 1 in 10 (10%) murder arrests;
* women account for 1 in 50 (2.1%) death sentences imposed at the trial level;
* women account for 1 in 67 (1.8%) persons presently on death row; and
* women account for 1 in 100 (.9%) persons actually executed in the modern era...
* women account for about 1 in 10 (10%) murder arrests;
* women account for 1 in 50 (2.1%) death sentences imposed at the trial level;
* women account for 1 in 67 (1.8%) persons presently on death row; and
* women account for 1 in 100 (.9%) persons actually executed in the modern era...
On Griffin Alley is a re-imagining of the trial of Lena Baker, a 44-year old Black American female who was convicted of killing Ernest B. Knight, her 56-year old white male employer with whom she also was engaged in an illicit love affair in Jim Crow Cuthbert, Georgia. Baker became the first and only woman to ever be electrocuted in the State of Georgia.
The year was 1944. Baker’s trial lasted for less than one full day, and her jury was comprised of twelve white males. The trial transcript is approximately ten pages long.
On Griffin Alley is an interdisciplinary experiment, fusing theatre and expanded cinema techniques. The goal is not to have a “clean, finished product,” but rather, it is an exploration of the process of the work, which subsequently becomes the work. Through the use of found artifacts, archival film footage, and sound design we hope to create a new language of performance.
Starring Connie Winston and Joey Huertas.
