Execution of Justice

Execution of Justice is an ensemble play by Emily Mann chronicling the case of Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk in November 1978. The play was originally commissioned by the Eureka Theater Company and had an early production by Arena Stage in their 1984/1985 season.

Contents

• Execution of justice
• List of Characters
• References

It opened on Broadway on March 13, 1986 with John Spencer playing Dan White and a cast that included Wesley Snipes, Stanley Tucci, Mary McDonnell, and Earle Hyman. The set was designed by Ming Cho Lee, costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, lighting by Pat Collins.

In 1999, the play was adapted for television and was awarded the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie in 2000. It is also the winner of the HBO New Plays USA award, the Helen Hayes Award, the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, and it was nominated for a Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award.

In the play, the trial itself is on trial in the court of theater and is found guilty of a miscarriage of justice, parallelling the actual case which resulted in White being convicted of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, rather than two counts of first-degree murder, and sentenced to less than eight years. The play references the urban legend that White's defense strategy was primarily the so-called "Twinkie defense" — painting his junk food consumption as a significant or even in some versions the sole cause of his actions.

The highly emotional play combines live stage action, videos, taped voices and music including a video camera on stage projecting its image onto large screens throughout the performance which uses the drag nun Sister Boom Boom, an AIDS activist, (played in the original production by Wesley Snipes) as a voice of consciousness representing human rights for all marginalized groups, not just gays.

Act I is titled: Murder This act is beginning the trial of Daniel James White, who has assassinated Harvey Milk, the Supervisor of the City and County of San Francisco, California, and George R. Moscone, the Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco, California. The Prosecution and Defense choose a jury, and then present the facts of what has occurred, such as White resigning from his position as the Supervisor of District 8 of San Francisco, and the discussion of his intent to possibly withdraw that resignation. They discuss White's background, where he grew up in San Francisco, served in Vietnam, and was a police officer and fireman in San Francisco. They then discuss the wounds of the victims, and question the witnesses to the shooting of Milk and Moscone. White explains his side of the story, and the end of the act is Dan White, his wife Mary Ann, and the Jurors sobbing. Court then takes a recess.

Act II is titled: In Defense of Murder This begins with the Prosecution questioning Falzon and his relationship to Dan White. Then the Defense brings in Freitas, Sherrant, and Frediani, to discuss his character and their relationships with him in the past. Then there is a psychiatric defense, and then questioning of his wife, Mary Ann, and her perspective. After all final statements and deliberation of the jury, the court announces Mr. White is sentenced to seven years and eight months, the maximum sentence for two counts of voluntary manslaughter. The last lines of the play are Dan White Saying: "I was always just a lonely vote on the board. I was just trying to do a good job for the city"

The set is described as a bare stage with a white screen overhead. Time: 1978 to the Present. Place: San Francisco. The Words Come From: Trial Transcripts, Reportage and Interviews.