SOURCE: "When Reality Takes to the Stage," in The New York Times, 9 March 1986, Section 2, pp. 1, 4.

Execution of Justice received its Broadway debut on 13 March 1986 at the Virginia Theatre. In the following piece, which appeared just prior to the premiere, Bennetts provides background on the genesis of the play, its staging, and its author.

If someone had invented the plot, it might seem too incredible: a straight-arrow city official resigns from his post, then changes his mind and requests his job back—but the mayor has already decided to appoint someone else. In a rage, the official—a former policeman and fireman—shoots the mayor and another city official, a prominent homosexual activist.

There is no question he committed the murders, but when the case comes to trial the defense claims, among other assertions, that the accused had been binging on junk food with a high sugar content, which...