Innocence Lost by Beverley Cooper

Innocence Lost by Beverley Cooper

In June of 1959, 12-year old Lynne Harper was found raped and strangled in a farm woodlot near Clinton, Ontario. A few months later her classmate, 14-year old Steven Truscott, was convicted of the murder. He was sentenced to death by hanging.
Truscott always maintained his innocence. As the youngest person ever sentenced to death in Canada, his case was a major impetus for the abolishment of capital punishment in this country, and his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1960. In 2007, after a review of more than 250 pieces of new evidence, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that Truscott's conviction had been a miscarriage of justice, and he was acquitted.
In this incisive and emotionally-taut dramatization of the case, Beverley Cooper recreates the world of Steven Truscott and his friends. Sarah, a young farm girl, is our guide to life bounded by small town hangouts, organized sports, the local air force base, school. And then suddenly that world twists into a nightmare of grief, fear, police questioning, rumour and innuendo. With finely-calibrated tension, Cooper leads the audience through the case afresh and sheds light on the human cost of what is now considered to be Canada's most notorious wrongful conviction.

Beverley Cooper is an actress, writer, and teacher. Clue in the Fast Lane (with Ann-Marie MacDonald); Thin Ice (with Banuta Rubess, Chalmers/Dora Prize); The Eyes of Heaven; The Lady in White (from Wilkie Collins' novel); The Lonely Diner: Al Capone in Euphemia Township; Janet Wilson Meets the Queen (nominated for Prix Rideau Award); and If Truth Be Told are some of her pieces. Innocence Lost: A Play About Steven Truscott was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Prize, and it was a first for a Canadian writer to appear on the Globe and Mail bestsellers list. She's also written for television, film, and CBC Radio Drama, among other things. Beverley is the project coordinator for PGC's The CASA Project, which aims to empower South African women playwrights. Beverley Cooper's website is www.BeverleyCooper.com.