Looking for trial scenes...

June 10, 2008 11:49 AM

Looking for plays with courtroom/trial scenes.

I'm trying to gather a list of plays that have 10 - 20 minute scenes featuring a courtroom, trial or similar law-related situation. Preferably in a comic vein. Background: I'm going to be directing a group of lawyers in the scene for an upcoming conference. Last year we did the trial scene from the play Sly Fox, and now I'm looking for new options. Any suggestions?

posted by jrb223 to media & arts (24 comments total)

If you all decide to depart from the comic side of things, "The Runner Stumbles" by Milan Stitt has a great deal of courtroom drama.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 11:57 AM on June 10

Adam's Rib?
posted by jeanmari at 12:03 PM on June 10

The Caucasian Chalk Circle?
posted by Metroid Baby at 12:05 PM on June 10

Inherit the Wind?
posted by arianell at 12:11 PM on June 10

Not a comedy, but - To Kill a Mockingbird.
posted by blaneyphoto at 12:13 PM on June 10

This may be too long, but you could do a section from A Few Good Men...
posted by dismas at 12:13 PM on June 10

The Crucible. But it's not terribly humorous.
posted by Tomorrowful at 12:22 PM on June 10

Merchant of Venice! Only funny if your sense of humor's pretty messed up, though.
posted by EatTheWeak at 12:24 PM on June 10

My Cousin Vinny? Miracle on 34th Street? All of Me? And there have to be courtroom scenes from Seinfeld, like The Scofflaw.
posted by jeanmari at 12:27 PM on June 10

Whoops. I was thinking of The Ticket from Seinfeld.
posted by jeanmari at 12:30 PM on June 10

The Caine Mutiny Court Martial
posted by zippy at 12:31 PM on June 10

It's only unintentionally funny, but a real classic: Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand.
You should also consider Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, which is composed from court transcripts and occasionally funny [spoiler alert: ends sadly ;) ].
posted by Mngo at 12:31 PM on June 10

Comic is hard.

"Our Country's Good" (see the scene called "A question of Liz")
"Merchant of Venice"
"Witness for the Prosecution"
posted by grumblebee at 12:35 PM on June 10

They aren't exactly trial scenes, but these two lawyer-related Mr. Show skits are brilliant.
posted by farishta at 12:39 PM on June 10

Also, I can tell from your profile that you'll have access to the "play index" reference (HWWilson handles it). A quick search turns up 247 plays with "trials" as a subject tag, and searching within that for "comedy" narrows it to 22.
My favorite:
"Play Title: A dog's life
Play Author: Wood, Margaret
Play Abstract: Comedy. Sheep dog suspected of sheep killing. Court trial reveals another dog is killer."
I'd like to see lawyers acting that one...
posted by Mngo at 12:42 PM on June 10

The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf - It's a kid's play but is fairly amusing, and the lawyers might get a kick out of it.
posted by odi.et.amo at 1:11 PM on June 10

If you have any interest in jury room drama, the classic is 12 Angry Men (also made into a movie).
posted by deeparch at 1:34 PM on June 10

Seconding The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. "Strawberries!"

Other plays with comedic courtroom scenes:
Cannibal! The Musical (yes, there is a stage version)
Chicago (either the original play or the musical)

Man of La Mancha has a prisoner-run mock-trial, but that may not be what you're looking for.

There must be tons more, but I'm drawing a blank.
posted by ErWenn at 1:45 PM on June 10

The stage version of "Breaker Morant" is almost all trial, though not very funny.
posted by zerbinetta at 2:07 PM on June 10

Zoot Suit has a great, darkly comic scene where the guys on trial are required to stand every time their name is mentioned, because ostensibly, the white judge and jury can't tell the Mexican defendants apart. So it quickly devolves into "stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:15 PM on June 10

Oh, and A Few Good Men was a play before it was a Tom Cruise movie, and there's another darkly comic scene where the defense attorney shoots holes in the prosecution's case by drilling a Marine about where exactly in the manual he could find the mess hall, in order to make a point that the manual doesn't cover everything you learn in the Marines.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:18 PM on June 10

There are a couple of short scenes in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" where the attorney, Sonny Seiler -- because he is so charming and slick -- sort of 'pwns' the witness. They're funny in an awkward, privileged way.

Similarly, there are some scenes in "Jagged Edge" where Glenn Close's character 'pwns' a witness -- or the prosecution as a whole -- because of some fancy lawyerin'.

Of course, both are movies, and that's not what you asked for. But, there is always transcription...
posted by CitizenD at 3:23 PM on June 10

If you're open to operettas, you may want to take a look at Trial By Jury.
posted by jennyesq at 10:07 PM on June 10

Machinal. Not funny.

Cool Papa, the mess hall bit is in the movie as well.
posted by craven_morhead at 3:53 PM on June 11