''Murmuring Judges'', first performed in 1991, is a scathing attack on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

legal system, and the second of a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of plays by David Hare examining Great Britain's most hallowed institutions. The first play in the trilogy, '' Racing Demon'', examines the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, and the third, '' The Absence of War'', examines political parties.

Overview

''Murmuring Judges'' takes a three-tiered view of a single instance of British "justice": the trial, conviction and appeal process of a dubiously guilty accomplice to a theft and kidnapping attack. The case is examined from the point of view of the police, the lawyers and the judges, as well as from inside the prison system. In each level, the injustices and insensitivities of the current system are highlighted as they are embodied by older proponents who cannot see past the traditions of British "justice". Contextually, the play also underlines problems that the system were facing in the late 1980s, early 1990s, such as a rise in immigration and a heightening sense of terror, such as the

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. The play is not entirely bleak as it also showcases the possibility for change through the younger professionals both in the police force and in the legal profession. The overall message is not hopeful – an innocent man, Gerard, remains in prison with his life ravaged by despair and sexual assault. The pessimism is slightly relieved by the final image of the play, two young women, a barrister, Irina and a police officer, Sandra, who set to work on the arduous task of revolutionising the system.

References

{{David Hare 1991 plays Plays by David Hare