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For one night only at Middle Temple Hall (Sunday 26 July 2026) – Abigail Bright introduces the famed annual fundraising theatrical event. This year, Martin Shaw and Jason Watkins perform John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief, a mixture of farce and pathos and all in support of the work of the Kalisher Trust in its 30th year
Hamlet had it right in Act II, Scene II when whispering: ‘The play’s the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.’ Putting on a play and raiding collective conscience go rather well together. Whereas Hamlet had murder in mind, the Kalisher Trust is more concerned with social mobility. The Bar should be for the brightest and the best. The Trust promotes and stewards exactly that.
On Sunday 26 July, in Middle Temple Hall, the peerless Pip Franks will direct Martin Shaw, a stage actor of considerable distinction and a televisual hit over decades, as well as being Kalisher’s Vice President, and Jason Watkins, the BAFTA winner, stage titan and screen star, in John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief. Tickets now on sale (if you’re quick): 5.30pm drinks reception, curtain up 7pm.
Think hapless barrister defending a spoilsport of an accused who gladly admits murder most homely. Written for the wireless and first performed in 1957, The Dock Brief is an hour of light entertainment. Pip Franks (The Darling Buds of May, Heartbeat and too many other screen and stage credits to list) revitalises the language for a discerning Kalisher audience. The three of them are Kalisher stalwarts.
The play itself is joyful – ideal for a Sunday evening. Mortimer’s script entertains and delights while its themes capture current issues in a gentle and positive way; Bar ethics, peer pressure and how to mark one’s own professional achievement. Bring your friends and let them see the life you lead (but more amusingly than your typical week).
Big wigs abound at Kalisher theatre events in Middle Temple Hall, always to great acclaim. These evenings are a marvellous occasion at which the judiciary and barristers – across all call brackets – relax in each other’s company, celebrating what we have in common and why the criminal Bar unites us in our hard work. (Barristers – don’t forget to bring your clerks.) The Trust enjoys the support of the Lady Chief Justice, a member of Kalisher’s Senior Counsel Group.
The evening is also an opportunity to mark the achievements of Dr Camilla Darling, the Trust’s Vice Chair for five years (2018-23) and now a Senior Counsel Group member. Camilla, Director of Research Development, Arts and Sciences at King’s College London, was recently appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2026 for services to young people and to the diversity of the Bar.
Experience teaches us that tickets fly as word gets round, so look sharp or you’ll be kicking yourself.
Abigail Bright is Kalisher’s trustee responsible for Scholarships, Awards & Internships
Abigail Bright, of Doughty Street Chambers, serves on the Bar Council's Ethics Committee. She specialises in special jurisdiction work, practising principally in terrorism, extradition, fraud, judicial reviews of issuing and executing search warrants, inquests, and human rights actions for damages against public authorities.
Hamlet had it right in Act II, Scene II when whispering: ‘The play’s the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.’ Putting on a play and raiding collective conscience go rather well together. Whereas Hamlet had murder in mind, the Kalisher Trust is more concerned with social mobility. The Bar should be for the brightest and the best. The Trust promotes and stewards exactly that.
On Sunday 26 July, in Middle Temple Hall, the peerless Pip Franks will direct Martin Shaw, a stage actor of considerable distinction and a televisual hit over decades, as well as being Kalisher’s Vice President, and Jason Watkins, the BAFTA winner, stage titan and screen star, in John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief. Tickets now on sale (if you’re quick): 5.30pm drinks reception, curtain up 7pm.
Think hapless barrister defending a spoilsport of an accused who gladly admits murder most homely. Written for the wireless and first performed in 1957, The Dock Brief is an hour of light entertainment. Pip Franks (The Darling Buds of May, Heartbeat and too many other screen and stage credits to list) revitalises the language for a discerning Kalisher audience. The three of them are Kalisher stalwarts.
The play itself is joyful – ideal for a Sunday evening. Mortimer’s script entertains and delights while its themes capture current issues in a gentle and positive way; Bar ethics, peer pressure and how to mark one’s own professional achievement. Bring your friends and let them see the life you lead (but more amusingly than your typical week).
Big wigs abound at Kalisher theatre events in Middle Temple Hall, always to great acclaim. These evenings are a marvellous occasion at which the judiciary and barristers – across all call brackets – relax in each other’s company, celebrating what we have in common and why the criminal Bar unites us in our hard work. (Barristers – don’t forget to bring your clerks.) The Trust enjoys the support of the Lady Chief Justice, a member of Kalisher’s Senior Counsel Group.
The evening is also an opportunity to mark the achievements of Dr Camilla Darling, the Trust’s Vice Chair for five years (2018-23) and now a Senior Counsel Group member. Camilla, Director of Research Development, Arts and Sciences at King’s College London, was recently appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2026 for services to young people and to the diversity of the Bar.
Experience teaches us that tickets fly as word gets round, so look sharp or you’ll be kicking yourself.
Abigail Bright is Kalisher’s trustee responsible for Scholarships, Awards & Internships
For one night only at Middle Temple Hall (Sunday 26 July 2026) – Abigail Bright introduces the famed annual fundraising theatrical event. This year, Martin Shaw and Jason Watkins perform John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief, a mixture of farce and pathos and all in support of the work of the Kalisher Trust in its 30th year
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