Execution of Justice
- Dates
- Mar 13 – Mar 22, 1986
- Performances
- 12
About
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 Theatre Company, but premiered at Arena Stage on May 10, 1985. In the play, the trial itself is on trial in the court of theater, and is found guilty of a miscarriage of justice. In the actual trial, White was convicted only of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, rather than two counts of first-degree murder; he was sentenced to less than eight years in prison. The dialogue mentions the urban legend that White's defense strategy was primarily the so-called "Twinkie defense"—painting his junk food consumption as a significant factor i...