I’ve been racking my brain to think of any book, other than Dead Man Walking, that has inspired a film and an opera and a play (and soon, a graphic book). I’ve found myself digging into the past, into myth and legend, to uncover such an animal.
Myths and mainstays
There’s the story of Oedipus, which is best know in its incarnation as a play, but which Homer featured, briefly, in his epic poem, the Odyssey, over three centuries prior to Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex.
There have been multiple film adaptations of Oedipus, some holding close to the original story, others using the central mythic elements and incorporating Freudian theories.
In 1927, Igor Stravinsky wrote an opera-oratorio, Oedipus Rex, which combines the forces of a narrator, soloists, male chorus and orchestra. The opera uses a Latin translation of Jean Cocteau’s French translation of Sophocles’ original Greek (with the narration performed in the dominant language of the audience.)
Then there’s Shakespeare’s Othello, thought to be inspired by a novella written in the mid-1500s by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. Film versions abound, and it took operatic form in Verdi’s Otello.
A more recent mythic story, which first appeared in novel form and later was transformed into a stage play, film and, in 2023, an opera (by Gregg Kallor), is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The book, which is often credited as the first science fiction novel and has given birth to a motley collection of interpretations (see Jill Lapore’s wonderful New Yorker article) is itself inspired by the myth of Prometheus.
Greek myth, Shakespeare, gothic sci-fi horror. Interesting company, Dead Man Walking keeps, and even among this adaptation-rich company it stands alone in being non-fiction.
If you ever have the chance to attend a performance of the opera of Dead Man Walking where the central character portrayed on stage is alive and present in the audience, you will get an idea of just how singular this is.
Perfect fodder
This begs the question: Why has Sister Helen’s memoir inspired so many adaptations?
An obvious reason is that the book brought to public attention a critical human rights issue that had been shrouded in secrecy. When it was first published, Dead Man Walking launched a national conversation about the death penalty, a conversation which continues today.
The book also contained within it, as Susan Sarandon has said, a story of unconditional love.
What a potent combination, justice and love! Certainly perfect fodder for the stage and grand opera.
The other fuel powering the continuing evolution of Dead Man Walking is Sister Helen herself. She wrote the book in order to educate the public and ever since she has been on a perpetual book tour, now in its fourth decade.
This is a story that was written to do work, and it’s that work that drives it on.
A timeline of creations
Here’s a timeline of major creations spawned by Dead Man Walking:
- 1993 Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean is published by Random House.
- 1995 The film, written and directed by Tim Robbins, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, is released. The following year, Susan Sarandon receives an Academy Award for her portrayal of Sister Helen in the film.
- 1996 A CD, ‘Dead Man Walking: Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture' is released. It features songs by Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Michelle Shocked, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle and Patti Smith.
- 2000 The opera, composed by Jake Heggie with a libretto by Terrence McNally, is premiered by the San Francisco Opera. It has gone on to become the most-performed US opera of the 21st century. (Here’s a performance by Houston Grand Opera on Spotify.)
- 2002 Tim Robbins writes the stage play of Dead Man Walking. Instead of having it performed on Broadway, he chooses to offer it to schools as a way of introducing young people to the story. Well over 250 schools have taken him up on that offer.
- 2005 Sister Helen’s second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, is published.
- 2013 The 20th anniversary of Dead Man Walking sees its reissue with a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and afterwords by Sister Helen, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins.
- 2019 Random House publishes Sister Helen’s third book, River of Fire: On Becoming an Activist.
- 2023 The New York Metropolitan Opera has its premiere performance of Jake Heggie’s opera. It is live streamed to Times Square.
- 2025 and beyond Dead Man Walking - A Graphic Retelling, slated for publication in 2025; and after that, Sister Helen’s fourth book, Beneath Our Dignity: How we the People are Shutting Down the Death Penalty, which is currently taking form.