"Down on Griffin Alley"

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | Drama at Bennington and CAPA present an original play by Connie Winston and Jean Randich, inspired by the life of Lena Baker, the first and only woman sentenced to the electric chair in the state of Georgia.

In 1945 Lena Baker was wrongfully convicted of killing her ex-lover and employer, Ernest (E.B.) Knight, a white man who would lock her up in his gristmill, keeping her against her will. This presentation features actual trial testimony and performances by Connie Winston, Joel Marsh Garland '97, Devin Beckwith '19, Damir Cobo '17, Christina Polanen '20, Jade Pope '17, Lulwama Mulalu '18, and Cy Wolfe '20. Direction by Jean Randich, Projection Design by Sue Rees, Costume Design by Chip Schoonmaker, Lighting Design by Jiyoun Chang, Dialect Coaching by Mercedes Herrero, Assistant directed by Sam Finger '20, and stage managed by Christiana Stawasz '18.

There will be a talkback immediately following the show to focus on themes of Black Lives Matter, Mass Incarceration, Capital Punishment, and theater for social change.