Myrtle is the story of a mother preparing the last meal for her son on death row. In this one-woman performance, director Patricia McCormack plays the titular Myrtle. We find her in a prison kitchen preparing the family recipe of meatballs and the prison recipe for lemon pie. Throughout the 15-minute short, Myrtle talks us through the preparation of the meal using knives with dull blades and the special touches she adds to the recipes.
The short film is really about the death penalty and its effects on the accused’s family as Myrtle drops hints about her rocky relationship with her son and her mixed feelings about his prison conversion. Then writer Megan Barker delivers a very sobering ending.
“…a mother preparing the last meal for her son on death row.”
Throughout Myrtle McCormack gives a powerful performance as a mother fighting between remaining stoic for the sake of the last meal and the natural urge to tap into her feelings about losing her child.
The death penalty should be a simple single act of justice, but in reality, it affects many people in very broad ways. Myrtle takes the time to tell one of the many stories connected to the issue in a powerful and poignant way.
"…tell[s] one of the many stories connected to the issue in a powerful and poignant way."
