By Nick Sansone
1st Place, Prose, Create | Encounter 2021
Download The Last Supper to read it in its original screenplay formatting:
Artist Statement:
The initial idea for this short screenplay was inspired by the story of Lisa Montgomery, the only woman with a federal death sentence (who was executed January 13, 2021). Through the writing process, I became more interested in exploring the social and psychological effects of capital punishment on the families of death row inmates through a specific, personal lens, and ended up focusing the story on the teenage daughter of a female death-row inmate about to be executed. In this screenplay, which takes place immediately prior to her final visit with her mother, I seek to capture the emotional turmoil that the aggressive systemic violence of capital punishment has on one particular individual, as well as the failure of retributive justice to provide closure and emotional healing to the families of those involved.