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We live in the most connected time in history. With a ping of an email or a four-digit CVP code, we can contact people thousands of miles away or join a court hearing. Yet, apparently, we have never been more isolated. Loneliness is an unspoken epidemic and many young people, especially, are increasingly disconnected from real interactions. Young men’s views of women are often shaped by online porn and troubling social media influencers.
Australian lawyer turned playwright Suzie Miller has tapped into this zeitgeist in her latest play, Inter Alia. Rosamund Pike is Jessica Parks, an eminent London Crown Court judge juggling the demands of work, marriage, motherhood and feminist ideals while navigating the legal and moral ambiguities of the rape trials over which she presides.
When those ambiguities come home (literally) to roost, her life and beliefs are thrown into turmoil.
Inter Alia follows Miller’s phenomenally successful play Prima Facie, which explored a similar subject from the perspective of a criminal law barrister who becomes the victim of sexual assault. Prima Facie transferred to Broadway, Jodie Comer won best actress awards and the film rights have been bought by Cynthia Erivo, star of Wicked.
Prima Facie had a significant impact on the legal profession, too. Judges from the Old Bailey went to see it, as did those from other courts, as well as many barristers and solicitors. Some wrote letters of thanks to Miller, grateful for the conversations her work had sparked within the profession. The author, later, joined some of those discussions. A group of barristers even formed TESSA (The Examination of Serious Sexual Assault), which calls to re-evaluate the statutory definitions of rape, consent and sexual assault in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? The answer must be that it is a little of each. Many writers are initially inspired by a real-life experience or news story, which they then develop to create compelling drama. The result can then galvanise changes in the real world.
Miller’s plays focus on sexual assault and explore the myriad of arguments and controversies the topic raises. What she lays uncomfortably bare is that any one of us can be pulled into a way of acting and thinking about sexual assault when it hits close to home, which is very different from what we imagine we would do when it’s something that happens to ‘other people’.
Both plays seek to interrogate a legal system which can re-victimise those who have suffered sexual violence, take years to bring a rape case to trial and can send a worrying message with lenient sentences in the event of a conviction. The plays also question a social system in which many women are afraid to even report an assault, thereby obfuscating the true extent of the problem.
Sexual violence, and how we deal with it is a complex, multi-layered problem that has to be discussed openly and honestly. For real change to occur, these discussions have to tackle uncomfortable, unpleasant truths and the views of people with whom one might profoundly disagree, to get to the rotten core of why it is so prevalent and the beliefs that lead to it. Women are not objects to be used to further any one political ideology.
Online subcultures exist because they fulfil a need that mainstream culture is failing to meet.
It’s a mammoth but essential task. The legal profession has an important role to play in assessing its own failings as well as what does work within its systems.
Inter Alia is also, arguably, a companion piece to the Netflix series Adolescence which got the whole country talking earlier this year. Politicians, ever ready to jump on a popular bandwagon, declared it required viewing which should be screened in schools.
If so, why not school trips to the cinema to see Inter Alia? Why not group trips by the legal profession, with discussions afterwards? Who knows what ideas for change it might ignite. After all, the central character is a high-achieving woman in the profession who, while initially paralysed by the nightmare in which she finds herself, realises she is in a position to do something about it.
Rehna Azim is a family law barrister at 42 BR Barristers. She is the editor of itsalawyerslife.com and founder of The Legal Style Awards.
We live in the most connected time in history. With a ping of an email or a four-digit CVP code, we can contact people thousands of miles away or join a court hearing. Yet, apparently, we have never been more isolated. Loneliness is an unspoken epidemic and many young people, especially, are increasingly disconnected from real interactions. Young men’s views of women are often shaped by online porn and troubling social media influencers.
Australian lawyer turned playwright Suzie Miller has tapped into this zeitgeist in her latest play, Inter Alia. Rosamund Pike is Jessica Parks, an eminent London Crown Court judge juggling the demands of work, marriage, motherhood and feminist ideals while navigating the legal and moral ambiguities of the rape trials over which she presides.
When those ambiguities come home (literally) to roost, her life and beliefs are thrown into turmoil.
Inter Alia follows Miller’s phenomenally successful play Prima Facie, which explored a similar subject from the perspective of a criminal law barrister who becomes the victim of sexual assault. Prima Facie transferred to Broadway, Jodie Comer won best actress awards and the film rights have been bought by Cynthia Erivo, star of Wicked.
Prima Facie had a significant impact on the legal profession, too. Judges from the Old Bailey went to see it, as did those from other courts, as well as many barristers and solicitors. Some wrote letters of thanks to Miller, grateful for the conversations her work had sparked within the profession. The author, later, joined some of those discussions. A group of barristers even formed TESSA (The Examination of Serious Sexual Assault), which calls to re-evaluate the statutory definitions of rape, consent and sexual assault in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? The answer must be that it is a little of each. Many writers are initially inspired by a real-life experience or news story, which they then develop to create compelling drama. The result can then galvanise changes in the real world.
Miller’s plays focus on sexual assault and explore the myriad of arguments and controversies the topic raises. What she lays uncomfortably bare is that any one of us can be pulled into a way of acting and thinking about sexual assault when it hits close to home, which is very different from what we imagine we would do when it’s something that happens to ‘other people’.
Both plays seek to interrogate a legal system which can re-victimise those who have suffered sexual violence, take years to bring a rape case to trial and can send a worrying message with lenient sentences in the event of a conviction. The plays also question a social system in which many women are afraid to even report an assault, thereby obfuscating the true extent of the problem.
Sexual violence, and how we deal with it is a complex, multi-layered problem that has to be discussed openly and honestly. For real change to occur, these discussions have to tackle uncomfortable, unpleasant truths and the views of people with whom one might profoundly disagree, to get to the rotten core of why it is so prevalent and the beliefs that lead to it. Women are not objects to be used to further any one political ideology.
Online subcultures exist because they fulfil a need that mainstream culture is failing to meet.
It’s a mammoth but essential task. The legal profession has an important role to play in assessing its own failings as well as what does work within its systems.
Inter Alia is also, arguably, a companion piece to the Netflix series Adolescence which got the whole country talking earlier this year. Politicians, ever ready to jump on a popular bandwagon, declared it required viewing which should be screened in schools.
If so, why not school trips to the cinema to see Inter Alia? Why not group trips by the legal profession, with discussions afterwards? Who knows what ideas for change it might ignite. After all, the central character is a high-achieving woman in the profession who, while initially paralysed by the nightmare in which she finds herself, realises she is in a position to do something about it.
Chair of the Bar sets out a busy calendar for the rest of the year
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Come in with your eyes open, but don’t let fear cloud the prospect. A view from practice by John Dove
Looking to develop a specialist practice? Mariya Peykova discusses the benefits of secondments and her placement at the Information Commissioner’s Office
Anon Academic explains why he’s leaving the world of English literature for the Bar – after all, the two are not as far apart as they may first seem...
Review by Stephen Cragg KC
