Shakespeare and the Law: Belief and Burden of Proof Through the Lens of Six of the Bard’s Plays

We are pleased to have offered stand alone programs such as Shakespeare and Law and Shakespeare and Leadership over the course of CSC’s 25 years.  CSC is currently focusing on our core programs (Shakespeare on the Common, and our Education and Theatre Training Programs: Stage2, CSC2 and the Apprentice Program).  We hope to resume additional programming in the future, as budgets allow.

Read about our 2019 presentation of Shakespeare and the Law

Produced in partnership with Daniel J. Kelly, partner at McCarter & English

2019’s Shakespeare and the Law program took on the themes of belief and the burden of proof through the lens of six Shakespeare plays: Cymbeline, Hamlet, Henry IV, Part 1, Julius Caesar, Measure for Measure and Othello. Following a staged reading of  brief scenes from each play, judges, prosecutors, attorneys, activists, and commentators debated how allegations of impropriety should be measured and judged in the courtroom, the workplace, on college campuses, and in congressional hearings.

Special guest panelists included: Samantha Harris, Vice President for Procedural Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights (FIRE), and Wendy Kammer, author, lawyer, and social critic.

Participants included Senior Fellow, Independent Women’s Forum and Former Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights (2001-2007, Jennifer C. Braceras; retired Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice, Judith Cowin; retired U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts Justice, Nancy Gertner; U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, Judge Timothy Hillman, Judge George O’Toole, Chief Judge Patti Saris, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV. Judge Douglas Woodcock, and Judge Rya Zobel; Columnist for The Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby; U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, Andrew Lelling; Partner at Choate Hall & Stewart LLP, Joan Lukey; and professional actors, Fred Sullivan, Jr.* and Kai Tshikosi.

Moderated by: Retired Judge Nancy Gertner and Jennifer Braceras.

Production Assistants: Courtney Plati and Sarah Vasilevsky

*denotes member Actor’s Equity Association

 

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