About

The Slaying of Innocence is a music-theatre work that emerges from the lived experience of African American men who have served and are currently serving prison sentences, in particular, Eric Anderson, and Wayland Coleman. Co-created by André de Quadros, Eric, and Wayland, the narrative incorporates their challenges in living life on the inside and the outside. Their stories are vividly told through rich and compelling poetry and poignant rap. The Slaying of Innocence fuses storytelling, music, and visual art to create a compelling artistic testimony about America’s broken and racialized justice system and the triumph of hope. The Slaying of Innocence crosses many cultural and aesthetic lines, impacting many different communities in its realization. The confluence of these artists from different mediums welcomes broad and inclusive audiences who respond to classical, contemporary, and popular music as well as theatre and spoken word/poetry slams. A large-scale version featuring immersive visual projections will be available for tours to national performing arts centers. These presentations aim to build awareness of our failed justice system, how it disproportionately affects African Americans, and how it has become the 21st-century version of Jim Crow. A second, more intimate version will tour detention centers nationally.

Support

Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Arts Emerson, and Marian Godfrey Gardner as lead commissioner. Additional commissioning support by John Herron. Developed and produced by Beth Morrison Projects. Additional support provided by MAP fund and the New England Foundation for the Arts. The Slaying of Innocence is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.