Washed by Tears is monologue of a female prisoner on death row named Dawn Carter. The play is set in 2008 after she has spent 8 years in solitary confinement. In 1999 she murdered her baby daughter Madison (who suffered from Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome), and her partner who discovered her at the scene of the crime. The drama aims to explore some of the many sensitive issues around the existence of the death penalty in many US states today. It also looks at the question of sanity as it affects the enforcement of the death penalty.