Dead Man Walking Play By Tim Robbins to Be Discussed on CatholicTV Talk Show

On March 26, the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project (DMWST project) will be discussed on the CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day”. The DMWST Project works with high schools and colleges to produce the play “Dead Man Walking” which was written by actor Tim Robbins and is based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean which was also made into a film starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. This is the 6^th season that the play has been presented as part of academic and theater curriculums in schools.

Sister Helen’s books are accounts of her friendship with 2 death-row inmates and her call to end capital punishment. Sister Helen commits herself to the protection of life, both innocent and guilty.

This is the Day airs at 10:30AM ET at CatholicTV.com and on CatholicTV. This is the Day is hosted by the Director of the CatholicTV Network, Father Robert Reed, and General Manager, Jay Fadden.

Steven Crimaldi (pictured above) will be interviewed on This is the Day. Steven is National Coordinator of The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project. Steve is currently working on the award-winning Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break. The specific purpose of the Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break is to bring students together for five days of anti-death penalty activism, education and fun. This is the place to be if you want to become a part of the next generation of human rights leaders. The 2010 event features six innocent death row exonerees: Shujaa Graham, Curtis McCarty, Ron Keine, Derrick Jamison, Perry Cobb and Juan Melendez. They are attending alternative spring break to speak with participants about how innocent people can end up on death row. Altogether, the six exonerees attending the alternative spring break spent a total of about 65 years on death row for crimes they did not commit.

More information on the Dead Man Walking School Theater Project and the Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break may be found at http://dmwplay.org/ and http://www.springbreakalternative.org/deathpenalty/

‘Dead Man Walking’ Nun and Author Sr. Helen Prejean will Appear on "This Is The Day" To Fight For Life

Sr. Helen w/ Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins

On Friday, June 12th, Sr. Helen Prejean, CSJ will appear on the CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day” as an in-studio guest. Sr. Helen is the author of the book “Dead Man Walking”, which inspired the film of the same name starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. This film depicts Sr. Helen’s interactions with a death row inmate.

On “This is the Day”, Sr. Helen will discuss the movie and the book “Dead Man Walking”. Susan Sarandon won an Academy Award for Best Actress in this film. Sr. Helen will also discuss her new book “The Death of the Innocents”. This new book walks readers through the cases of 2 death row inmates who were “convicted of murder on flimsy evidence”. Sr. Helen describes in detail the moments before their deaths and how she witnessed their executions.

During her television interview, Sr. Helen will also discuss the Death Penalty Discourse Network which aims to “deepen and broaden the discourse about the death penalty.”

She will also discuss the “Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project”. This project is a program which offers and promotes the play “Dead Man Walking” (written by Tim Robbins) to schools and universities with the aim of “deepening reflection on one of the key moral issues of our day.”

Sr. Helen also plans to write a book about her spiritual journey against the culture of death.

Also featured on “This is the Day” will be sisters Elyse Marie Ramirez, OP, and Sister Lovina Francis Pammit, OSF, vocations directors in Illinois and coordinators of “the Nun Run” in Chicago. “The Nun Run” is a 24-hour visit of various religious orders in which women are allowed to explore a potential vocation to religious life.

These guests can be seen on Friday, June 12th live at 10:30AM (EST) on CatholicTV where available (rebroadcast at 8PM).