Dead Man Walking

This synopsis comes from the Met Opera Website and was written by Kip Cranna.

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• Prologue

  The brothers Joseph and Anthony De Rocher brutally murder two teenagers on a date.

• ACT I

  In a poor New Orleans school, Sister Helen and Sister Rose teach the children a hymn. Helen is preoccupied about her promise (against Rose’s advice) to meet in person with her pen pal Joseph De Rocher, a death row inmate.  On the long drive to Angola State Penitentiary, she ponders the momentous step she is taking. Stopped for speeding but let off with a warning, she prays for guidance as she resumes her journey.

  The prison chaplain Father Grenville arrogantly warns her that she is wasting her time, as Joseph is beyond help. The warden predicts that Joseph will ask her for spiritual help to prepare for execution. Walking through death row Helen is taunted by the inmates.

  Joseph and Helen have an awkward first meeting. Hiding his fear with bravado, he tests her tolerance by recalling the pleasures he has known with women. She calls his bluff and Joseph admits his fear, asking her to be his spiritual advisor and to accompany his mother to the Pardon Board hearing.

  In a courtroom setting, the frightened Mrs. De Rocher pleads for her son’s life. Owen Hart, father of the slain girl, furiously recounts the grisly details of her murder. In anguish, Joseph’s mother can only respond that another killing cannot undo what has been done.

  Joseph’s family and the murder victims’ families wait for a verdict outside the courtroom. Helen introduces herself to the parents and they express their grief at never seeing their children again. News arrives that the appeal has been turned down: Joseph will be executed.

  Helen tells Joe that an appeal has been made to the governor. She urges him to acknowledge his guilt and seek forgiveness, but he blames his brother for the murders. The warden appears suddenly and insists she leave. Helen has had no time to eat and becomes faint from hunger, stress and exhaustion. As she looks for change at a vending machine, a jumble of conflicting voices thunders in her mind. The warden tells her the governor has turned down the appeal: “Joseph De Rocher is a dead man.” The voices in her head grow louder and Helen faints.

• ACT II

  Joseph is counting pushups when the warden comes to tell him his execution date has been set for August 4 at midnight.  Joseph voices feelings about his impending death, Sister Helen, and his murder victims.

  Helen awakens from a nightmare about Joseph and the murdered teenagers. Rose comforts her and helps her admit she still must find the strength to forgive Joseph herself, just as mothers forgive their children’s failings.

  On the night of Joseph’s execution, Helen tells him about seeing Elvis Presley in person when she was a girl. Their shared love for Elvis opens an emotional door between them--they laugh as friends. She once more urges Joseph to admit his guilt and find forgiveness.

  In a tearful farewell with his mother and two younger brothers, Joseph begs his mother to forgive him.Still believing in his innocence, she replies that there is nothing to forgive, and finds comfort in recollections of Joseph’s carefree boyhood. But when he is led away, his mother falls apart, consoled by Helen with assurances that there is good in her son and that God’s love is not denied him. Left alone, Helen panics for a moment as she contemplates the harrowing task she faces that night.

  The parents of the murder victims upbraid Helen for siding with the murderer, rejecting her words of consolation. Only Owen Hart, father of the murdered girl, expresses doubts about the value of the execution. Helen offers him friendship and promises to visit.

  Alone with Joseph one last time, Helen begs him to tell the truth, revealing that she visited the crime scene. Reluctantly Joseph tells her the whole story, breaking down in sobs, and admits his guilt. Helen assures him of forgiveness—hers and God’s. She will be there, the face of love for him, when he dies.

  The warden calls out, “Dead man walking.” Father Grenville intones the Lord’s Prayer, echoed by those all around.  Allowed to touch him this one time, Helen puts her hand reassuringly on his back, but when they reach the death chamber, she is barred from going further, and they exchange emotional good-byes. Strapped to the execution table, Joseph asks for the parents’ forgiveness. In silence, with only his heartbeat audible, the lethal injection is administered. In his final moment, Joseph says to Sister Helen: “I love you.”  After the witnesses leave and Helen is alone with Joseph, she sings her hymn one last time: “He will gather us around.”