All rise! Jurisdiction as Performance/Performative Language

Abstract

Abstract:When "All rise!" is being exclaimed in a courtroom, the attendees know they are supposed to stand up for the judges to enter. When these judges have made a decision at the end, the defendant becomes either guilty or not guilty. Yet, in a theatre hall, language lacks the specific coercive and punitive power to change reality directly. Nevertheless, lots of contemporary theatre and performance artists are implementing the stage to explore the relationship between law and theatre. This article seeks to examine the intricate role of language in both court cases and their fictional counterparts. Therefore, I will rely on Derrida's reassessment of Austin's Speech Act Theory (1962). To illustrate the argument, the importance of language in today's tribunal genre is being discussed for two performances that deal with alternative forms of jurisdiction: Milo Rau's The Congo Tribunal (2015) and Maria Lucia Cruz Correia's Voice of Nature: The Trial (2019).