The Culture Project will present a reading of Charles Grodin's new play The Prosecution of Brandon Hein, which will take place on June 5th at 7 PM in the 45 Below Theatre (45 Bleecker Street). The reading will feature Grodin, Johanna Day and Carey Lowell, among others.
Based on a true story and written by Grodin,
The Prosecution of Brandon Hein will be directed by Gordon Edelstein. The cast will include Grodin (
The Right Kind of People) as Brandon Hein's father, Carey Lowell ("Empire Falls," "Law and Order") as the Defense Attorney, Tony-nominee Johanna Day (
Proof) as Brandon Hein's mother, James McMenamin as Brandon Hein, Bruce Altman (
Matchstick Men, "Law and Order") as Mr. Farris, Bruce McVittie (
Million Dollar Baby) as the Prosecutor and
Julia Gibson (
'night, Mother, Uncle Vanya) as Mrs. Farris.
"A symbol of injustice in our legal system, Brandon Hein remains incarcerated after eleven years for a crime another man admitted to committing. So what did Brandon Hein do? He was drunk and got into a fight that involved six boys where one boy stabbed another who bled to death. The state did not claim that Brandon killed anyone, but under the felony murder rule if a jury decides that Brandon and his friends went to a fort in the backyard of a house in Agoura Hills, California to steal marijuana, not just to smoke it or buy it as the boys claimed, Brandon could be convicted of intended robbery. That is what the jury decided. Legal scholars have said the sentence for Brandon Hein is one of the most outrageous applications of the felony murder rule they have ever seen. A life sentence with no chance for parole for a teenager who did nothing more than get drunk and get into a fight," according to press notes.
Actor, commentator, author and playwright
Charles Grodin pored through trial transcripts and interviews to create a nonfiction play "that is an incredible story of injustice, political ambition and vengeance."
Tickets are free and are available by emailing the Culture Project at boxoffice@cultureproject.org.
