How can this happen?

You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. A child’s words are twisted. You might look like someone who committed a crime. Suddenly, your world is taken away. You’re in prison for a crime you did not commit, and no one is helping you get out.

This was reality for Rickey Jackson, Nancy Smith, Clarence Elkins, and the East Cleveland 3—Derrick Wheatt, Laurese Glover and Eugene Johnson. The world premiere opera Blind Injustice explores the true stories of these six people who were tried, convicted, imprisoned, then ultimately freed by the Ohio Innocence Project. A collaboration with the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) and the Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC), the work is based on casework by the OIP and the book Blind Injustice by University of Cincinnati law professor and OIP Director Mark Godsey, as well as interviews with the six exonerees. With music by Scott Davenport Richards, the opera will bring to life the grace, perseverance, and forgiveness of these men and women using a small cast, a chorus composed of YPCC members, and a 12-piece orchestra. Presented in Music Hall’s intimate Wilks Studio.

Music by Scott Davenport Richards
Libretto by David Cote
Sung in English

Power of HER! The creative team of Blind Injustice includes two powerhouse women: Robin Guarino serves as stage director and dramaturg, and Andromache Chalfant is the production designer.