Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law

This special issue of Documenta delves into the reciprocal relationship between ‘Theater and Law,’ establishing an interdisciplinary space for justice that transcends conventional legal boundaries. In contrast to traditional, rigid judicial frameworks that revolve around accusing and sentencing clearly defined defendants, the performing and visual arts provide a reflective environment for reevaluating legal cases and systems. Each article in this issue aspires to reconceptualize established legal perspectives by presenting artistically inspired alternatives. The contributions illustrate how the performing and visual arts foster empathetic and progressive alternatives to the judicial process, both within and beyond traditional court settings. 

Editors: Steff Nellis (Guest Editor)

Articles


On Theater, Law, and Justice (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Steff Nellis

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 3-25

The Irruption of Real Violence: The Open Dramaturgy of Theatrical Mock Trials and Milo Rau’s The Moscow Trials

Kfir Lapid-Mashall

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 29-51

(P(Re))Forming Justice: Milo Rau’s Trials and Tribunals

Lily Climenhaga

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 53-83

Empathy at the Crossroads

Shlomit Cohen-Skali

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 85-110

Legitimately Incongruous: Exploring Artistic and Legal Interplays in A Game of War (2021)

Sixtine Bérard

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 113-137

The Resilience of Borders: Law and Migration in Contemporary Performances

Klaas Tindemans

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 139-183

Creating Spaces in Law as a Practice of Theatrical Jurisprudence

Marett Leiboff

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 187-205

The Judiciary’s Theatrical Achilles’ Heel: Acting the Fool (RAF members) compared to Acting in Bad Faith (Alex Jones)

Frans-Willem Korsten

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 207-227

Performing Institutions: Trials as Part of the Canon of Theatrical Traditions

Rocío Zamora-Sauma

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 229-253

Backstage Performances of Parliamentary Scrutiny, or Coming Together in Parliamentary Committee Rooms

Kate Seear and Sean Mulcahy

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 255-281

Legislative Theater and Modern Slavery: Exploring a Hyperlocal Approach to Combatting Human Trafficking

Sofia Nakou, Stephen Collins and Nii Kwartelai Quartey

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 283-305

From the Truth Commission Report to the Stage and the Museum: The Artistic Dislocation of Violence from the Ecuadorian Chapter of 1983 to 2008

Jorge Poveda Yánez and Andrés Aguirre Jaramillo

2023-12-20 Volume 41 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Theater and Law • 327