On March 17, 1981, Earnest Knighton Jr. shot and killed Ralph Schell at a  Shreveport convenience store, for which he was executed by the State of Louisiana three years later. Song of a Man Coming Through is the true story of Mr. Knighton’s struggle to live into the man he wanted to become even as his execution approached, pulling his legal team and community into a journey of transformation with him. It is the story of life erupting out of death. 

Before his execution, Mr. Knighton asked Joe Morris Doss, one of his attorneys and an Episcopal priest, to share his story so that his life might contribute to society even after his death. Bishop Doss—an author, death penalty expert, and leader in liturgical design—and his son Andrew—a former criminal prosecutor —wrote the play together in a new form they termed liturgical theater. 

In the fall of 2015, Southern Rep Theater brought Earnest Knighton Jr. to life on the stage. The play won multiple awards including the Best Original Work of 2015 in New Orleans, and was praised by the city's and region’s major newspapers and magazines. The Times Picayune called it "among the most powerful pieces of theater ever staged in this city." The reviewer wrote: “The final  moments of the play  bring all the emotions together in a manner that left me physically trembling. What could be a miserably depressing evening, instead, becomes a grace-filled and powerfully life-affirming experience.”  The New Orleans Advocate starts its review with a comparison to “the  Academy Award-winning film Dead Man Walking and Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying,” to conclude: “Joining those ranks is Song of a Man Coming Through.”

The play was written for diverse production environments. Lake County Middle School in Leadville, Colorado produced it in March of 2008, and De LaSalle High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, produced it in December of 2017 as part of its curriculum on criminal justice.

We are currently developing a tour that uses the play as an organizing tool for community conversations about capital punishment.