Korey Tells the Parole Board What Happened

Written by Ava DuVernay & Michael Starrbury for the Emmy-winning television drama When They See Us, this contemporary dramatic scene captures an excruciatingly high-stakes moment inside a parole hearing. Faced with a panel demanding an admission of guilt for a crime he did not commit, Korey refuses to compromise his truth. Instead of offering a standard plea, he shares an unrehearsed personal memory about saving a man's life to demonstrate his character and innocence to a stone-faced board.

Korey embodies quiet resilience, deep vulnerability, and exhaustion beneath an intense fight for personal dignity. Having endured the trauma of wrongful imprisonment, he approaches the hearing without theatricality, relying entirely on genuine, lived truth to connect with an indifferent institution. The Parole Board Woman represents the cold, mechanical nature of the penal system, maintaining an impassive, clinical detachment that starkly contrasts with Korey’s raw emotional appeal.

Although formatted as a duologue, the exchange centers on an unbroken narrative that functions exceptionally well as a grounded dramatic showcase. It requires the performer to take an audience on an authentic emotional journey, painting a vivid external picture while revealing internal desperation. The scene gives an actor the chance to play an urgent objective against immovable silence, proving their ability to hold tension without relying on vocal projection or melodramatic outbursts.

This scene is best suited for actors aged 18 to 25 seeking material that highlights Leading Man, Outsider, Vulnerable, Intense, and Working Class casting types. It serves as powerful material for drama school auditions, agent showcases, self-tapes, and general classroom practice. Its contained duration of two minutes ensures that every beat remains focused, impactful, and dramatically concise.

Avoid playing the story as a rehearsed speech; let the details emerge spontaneously as Korey searches for the best way to explain who he truly is. Keep the stakes immediate by focusing entirely on trying to reach through the panel's emotional wall, using the silence between thoughts to show active thinking. Ground the vulnerability in simple, quiet pride rather than self-pity, letting the inherent injustice of the situation carry the weight of the drama.