PROGRAMME DETAILS FOR THE 187TH SEASON 2010/2011

TUESDAY 19 OCTOBER 2010
JOHN CURTIS

Barrister MA with the Criminal Cases Review Commission

John Curtis is a barrister, with the Criminal Cases Review Commission where he advises on appeals relating to serious crime. He studied Drama at the University of Warwick and was a member of the National Youth Theatre before undertaking post-graduate qualifications in Law at Leicester and in London. He was called to the Bar at Middle Temple in 1996. Having recently completed a part-time MA at the Shakespeare Institute, he is now undertaking research for a PhD on Shakespeare's connections with the Law. His supervisor is Professor Kate Mcluskie, the Institute's Director. John's research work was chosen for a University of Birmingham showcase in December 2009 and he has contributed book reviews for publication in Law and Humanities and Cahiers Élisabéthains. He has presented research papers at Britgrad 2009 and 2010. He aims to have his thesis published in due course.

Shakespeare in Law

Shakespeare in Law explores links between Shakespeare, theatre and the courtroom. Attention is given to cases with Shakespearean elements, particularly when judges use quotations or analogies from the plays. The material offers intriguing insights into judges' perceptions of Shakespeare and demonstrates the use of his work within the powerful, social mechanism of the Law Courts.

Lecture Notes

The 856th meeting of the Shakespeare Club took place at the Shakespeare Institute on 19 October 2010. The Chairman, Mrs Jean Lawrance introduced John Curtis, a barrister with the Criminal Cases Review Commission, who was currently writing a thesis on Shakespeare’s connection with the law. His subject was Shakespeare in Law rather than the well-worn subject of Shakespeare and the law.

Mr Curtis’s emphasis was on the links between the modern courtroom and the works of Shakespeare which crop up regularly in judgements as analogues and quotations. He had identified over 400 such references, from 1603 when Sir Edward Coke, in his prosecution of Sir Walter Raleigh, echoed Twelfth Night (‘thou’st him some thrice’) to four instances in 2010. The first direct quotation he had traced was in 1829 when Mr Justice Nichol referred to Shakespeare, asking ‘What says the great poet of nature and master of the passions’. Othello and Shylock provided many examples used by judges, and it was judges rather than solicitors and barristers who tended to use Shakespeare in the courtroom, he claimed. Mr Curtis argued that such quotations sharpened logic and commanded attention. He closed his talk with a quotation by a former president of the Shakespeare Club, Lord Justice Norman Birkett, himself quoting Banquo in Macbeth (1.3): ‘The judge cannot see among the seeds of time which will grow and which will not – he can only do the best he can’.

After questions and a vote of thanks, the meeting ended at 9 pm

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