Training activity 4.3

A Play: "The Court Jester"

1. Goals

   • To present extreme forms of unacceptable conduct in court
   • To show this through the medium of an “over-the-top”, humorous play
   • To make a point about court conduct in a very obvious way
   • To have some fun!

2. Group size
   Plenary
   

3. Time required    60 minutes

4. Materials

   Handout 2: Script of the play: “The Court Jester”

5. Process
   

   There are two ways of presenting this activity:

   1. If you have no time with participants beforehand to prepare them for the activity.
   2. If the training takes place over a period of 2 or more days, and some participants can prepare overnight. ‘B’ is by far the preferable alternative.

   A.

   1. Distribute Handout 2, the script, to the seven participants whom you have chosen to read the roles of the characters and the narrator in the play. The rest of the magistrates are the audience. Use participants who are outgoing, have good voices and are likely to enter into the spirit of the activity
      

   2. If possible, give them time to read over the script during a break.

   3. Provide them with suitable clothes and props for their parts.

   4. Place characters in the play in positions similar to those in a courtroom in front of the audience, and get them to read the script, in the role of the characters. The narrator reads the directions which are in italics in the script. (25 minutes)

   5. Distribute the handout to the audience once the acting is over.

   6. Ask all participants to read the script to themselves and mark in the margin the elements of judicial integrity that have been compromised. They should name the type of inappropriate behaviour as mentioned in the lecture/discussion. (Activity 4.2) (10 minutes)

   7. Lead a discussion on the play in plenary, asking for the
      inappropriate forms of behaviour. Keep this light hearted and brief, as the play is a farce and the answers will be obvious. (25 minutes)

OR

B.

1. Assign roles to 6 participants, who would be appropriate as actors, the day before the session takes place. No narrator is necessary.

2. Suggest that they rehearse together, and find suitable clothing and props for their parts.

3. On the day of the “performance”, do not refer to the script in front of the rest of the participants. Allow them to experience the play as an actual performance.

4. Distribute the handout to the audience once the acting is finished.

5. Ask all participants to read the script to themselves and mark in the margin the elements of judicial integrity that have been compromised. They should name the type of inappropriate behaviour as mentioned in the lecture/discussion. (Activity 4.2) (10 minutes)

6. Lead a discussion on the play in plenary, asking for the inappropriate forms of behaviour. Keep this light hearted and brief, as the play is a farce and the answers will be obvious. (25 minutes)