Sin: A Cardinal Deposed

Playwright Michael Murphy’s unflinching docu-drama, Sin: A Cardinal Deposed, stitches together the words and characters of the Catholic clergy sex abuse crises in Boston and beyond. Judith Swift directs.

In the tradition of such landmark docu-dramas as Tectonic Theater Project’s The Laramie Project and Emily Mann’s Execution of Justice, Sin is a collage of testimonies surrounding Law, whose governance of his diocese is being scrutinized after years of sexual abuse by priests under his authority were finally revealed. Mixing together actual courtroom testimony by victims and accused child molesters, as well as internal Church documents entered in civil suit proceedings in 2002 and 2003, Murphy sheds new light on a case that continues to touch and shape the lives of many people.

A post-show discussion with representatives of support groups for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, as well as scholars and artists involved in the show, follows each performance.