Business Plan Going Forward
Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project
Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project Vision
The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project (DMWSTP) was formed to be a
national educational and advocacy organization in order to support students,
faculty, and staff members to join the discourse on the death penalty: an
engagement of ideas with the heart that is enriched by the values of honesty,
respect, and curiosity, and free of judgment and competition. DMWSTP is about
exploring the issues, but also about giving youth a new way to think about the role
of art in examining issues that affect us. Becoming an active, engaged citizen and
participating in the discernment and discourse around the big issues of our day is
exhilarating.
Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project Mission
The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project integrates the power of the
performing arts and academic study into the national discourse on the death penalty
to replace ignorance, cynicism, and apathy, among young people regarding the
death penalty with information, introspection, and inspiration.
Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to outline a plan to continue to expand the DMWSTP
over the next three years. This report is based on the experience of the last school
year, and is influenced by the full eight years of the project's history. The DMWSTP
has established itself as a unique theatrical and academic project. The next step is to
broaden our reach and circle of influence by acquiring adequate funds in order to
effectively market and maintain the project.
Organizational Structure
The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project exists under the organizational
structures of the Congregation of St. Joseph’s Ministries Against the Death Penalty, a
sponsored ministry of the Congregation. DMWSTP supports the work and ministry
of Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, and the work of the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End
the Use of the Death Penalty.
Programs and Services
The Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project provides support to high schools,
colleges, and universities who participate in the Dead Man Walking School Theatre
Project. Our website, www.dmwplay.org , features curriculums and lesson plans
exploring the death penalty for high schools and colleges, as well as links to CMN
and Sr. Helen’s schedule of engagements. DMWSTP contributes an article to CMN’s
monthly newsletter, and connects schools to their state and national abolition
campaigns.
The DMWSTP social media plan and schedule highlights the history of the project,
current and upcoming productions, and national death penalty news stories through
Facebook and Twitter.
Timeline:
At least twice a week.
Friday Photo- every Friday morning
In 2012-2013, DMWSTP will re-launch the blog and feature reflections from
participants, past and present.
Timeline: December 2012
Marketing Plan
Brochures, postcards, and bookmarks promoting the DMWSTP are made available
at Sister Helen Prejean’s speaking engagements. A targeted letter is sent to any
school at which Sister Helen speaks, encouraging them to use the momentum from
Sr. Helen’s visit to create discourse and produce the play.
In 2012-2013 Vintage Books, a subsidy of Random House Publishing, will promote
the project during the academic year through its Academic Marketing department.
The project will be featured on the Academic Marketing website, E-Newsletter, and
will receive a full page in their High School Catalog that is distributed to
approximately 20,000 high school teachers and administrators.
Timeline:
Random House Conferences (Nov 2012; Jan, Feb, Aug 2013)
Newsletter (Spring 2013)
Contact-- Keith Goldsmith, Executive Director of Academic Marketing
No Cost
DMWSTP will rent Educational Theatre Association mailing list in order to target
EdTA members (primarily educators), Dramatics Magazine subscribers, and High
school thespians (which are a subset of the dramatics magazine subscribers).
Timeline:
March 2013
Cost: $120 per thousand + $12 per thousand for a state select, and $20 per
thousand for a grade level select.
2013 will mark the 20" Anniversary of the publishing of Dead Man Walking. Tim
Robbins and Sister Helen should be in the spotlight of a national news/press piece.
Greg has sent a request to a producer at ABC News who will help strategize the best
way to do this.
Timeline:
Spring/Summer 2013
Conferences
In the last year, DMWSTP has had a presence at the Los Angeles Religious Education
Congress and the Mercy Secondary Education Conference.
In 2013, DMWSTP will present at the California Association of Teachers of English
(CATE conference). Sr. Helen will be the Keynote speaker at the conference, and
DMWSTP workshops will be presented through CATE’s “Peace and Justice” strain.
Attending conferences can become very costly, so DMWSTP must be strategic in our
choices.
Timeline:
CATE Conference February 8-10, 2013
No cost
DMWSTP is exploring attending a conference for Theatre Educators/Directors
through the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) and California Educational
Theatre Association (CETA). Greg submitted a proposal to CETA to lead a
workshop.
Timeline:
EdTA Annual Conference September 26-29, 2013
CETA Conference October 2013
Cost: TBD
DMWSTP needs to work with CMN to make DMWSTP materials available at
conferences that CMN attends.
Curriculum Materials
DMWSTP is working to collect and coordinate curriculum materials from high
schools (Mercy San Francisco; Mater Dei in Santa Ana, CA) and Universities
(Pittsburg State University (Pittsburg, KS) and make them available for other
schools to use. These materials need to be “standardized” and formatted so they can
be easily used. While it is important for DMWSTP to make these materials available,
it is also important that we cover our costs of printing and shipping. DMWSTP
needs to collect and feature materials from more schools.
Timeline:
November 2012- Mercy High School
December 2012- Mater Dei High School
February 2013- Pittsburg State University
April-July 2013- Fall 2012 schools
August-November 2013- Spring 2013 Schools
February-April 2014- Fall 2013 Schools
August-November 2014- Spring 2014 Schools
Cost:
Can be published for free on our website
$15 per printed booklet
The Play
Over the last 8 years, 220 schools have participated in the DMWSTP. High Schools
respond positively to the interdisciplinary piece of the DMWSTP, while colleges
generally connect the play with the book.
In order to continue operating, the DMWSTP must be performed at more schools.
Obstacles to Repetition:
With the exception of Regis University (2005, 2007), the play has not been repeated
at any school. We have lost a generation of students because schools do not want to
repeat the play. Schools evolve, administrators change, faculty retires, and new
students are brought in every year. We must convince schools that it is in their best
interest to repeat the experience of the play after several years.
In the initial years of the project, the play was marketed as a “Draft” and directors
were invited to submit feedback and suggestions for future versions of the script.
Several directors (who have directed the play at more than one school) have
expressed concerns over using the same script and its limitations. There are no
scene delineations, and there are inconsistencies in some character names.
Additionally, the statistics printed in the script are now out of date.
With permission from the playwright, DMWSTP would like to explore making
revisions to the text. DMWSTP would like to work with Brian Thorstenson, a San
Francisco Bay Area playwright, to research the play and see if the messaging is as
strong as it could be. DMWSTP would identify 5-10 “problem spots” and invite
directors to propose solutions. These solutions can be workshopped in the
Advanced Playwriting course at Santa Clara University.
Timeline:
January 2011-Present—Update statistics in script and send to participating
schools
November 2012- Request permission from Tim Robbins to pursue revising the
text
November 2012-February 2013- Collect feedback from 2011-2012 directors
(identify problem spots, suggestions to improve)
March - April 2013- Compile 3 “alternative” texts for each trouble spot
April-May 2013- Workshop the alternative texts at Santa Clara University and
Mercy High School
June 2013- Launch “revised script” for DMWSTP’s 10" Anniversary Season
(2013-2014)
DMWSTP must show our schools that we appreciate and respond to their feedback.
Finances
DMWSTP will partner with the Fetzer Institute in Kalamazoo, MI for the
2012-2013 year. The main objective of the partnership is to track the experiences
and reflections of students, faculty, and community members who will participate in
the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project for one year. The project will seek to
learn how theatrical exploration impacts understanding of the themes of love and
forgiveness in the context of capital punishment. DMWSTP will publish reflections in
“On Love and Forgiveness: Lessons from the Dead Man Walking School Theatre
Project” on our website, and will work with teachers from Mercy San Francisco and
Santa Clara University to create lesson plans based on the materials collected.
Timeline:
March 2012-March 2013- CSJ Generous Promise Grant Fund ($5,000)
November 30, 2012- Oct 14, 2013- Fetzer Institute Funding ($50,000)
December 2012- Research, Interview, and Hire a grant writer/fund-seeker to
help strategize for the future
April 2013- National Endowment for the Arts application due
Management and Organizational Structure
Greg Callaghan, who runs the DMWSTP out of Mercy High School in San Francisco,
solely staffs the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project. Emile Netzhammer in
New Orleans, LA ships scripts, books, and other materials to schools. Sr. Margaret
Maggio is Sister Helen’s assistant and handles all of Helen’s booking and travel
engagements. While there is some communication between all offices, it is difficult
and convoluted to manage. Checks can only be deposited in New Orleans. Since
Greg is the only MADP staff member on the West Coast, it is difficult to join the
momentum that CMN creates and maintains in Washington, D.C.
