Joint enterprise is the regulation whereby you might be responsible of against the law not since you had been the one who instantly dedicated it, however since you had an affiliation. It’s controversial to say the least. Repeatedly known as racist and classist, its use at occasions has appeared completely unjust. Remarkably it is a regulation that has been round since 1846. It’s this very regulation that was used to convict and sentence to loss of life Derek Bentley in 1953 for the homicide of a policeman, the notorious ‘let him have it’ case. And but, nearly 70 years later, persons are nonetheless being convicted,…
Rating
Excellent
A robust set of spoken phrase items that ought to make us indignant about how the regulation of joint enterprise is used on this nation.
Joint enterprise is the regulation whereby you might be responsible of against the law not since you had been the one who instantly dedicated it, however since you had an affiliation. It’s controversial to say the least. Repeatedly known as racist and classist, its use at occasions has appeared completely unjust. Remarkably it’s a regulation that has been round since 1846.
It’s this very regulation that was used to convict and sentence to loss of life Derek Bentley in 1953 for the homicide of a policeman, the notorious ‘let him have it’ case. And but, nearly 70 years later, persons are nonetheless being convicted, because the regulation’s interpretation is continually examined.
Jay Bernard‘s Joint is a series of spoken word pieces about that flawed law, highlighting all that is wrong with it. Each presents a different narrative, and for each, performer Indra Ova’s supply is unbelievable. She makes us imagine the phrases are all hers; that every one is her personal true story. Except they’re all advised from differing views, exploring the regulation from totally different angles.
But after all, we delve deeper than simply an assault on this regulation. Bernard’s writing addresses the shockwaves it causes. It seems at these affected, these dwelling in concern that sooner or later it may be them the system deems to have been related, and so tried for one more particular person’s crime.
Ova turns into the mom mourning her daughter’s imprisonment, the youthful sister misplaced with out her older sibling who has ‘disappeared’, which actually means in jail. She is the flatmate who washes the bloodstained garments and so turns into an confederate to a stabbing. All could seem farfetched, however there’s a component of reality all through, leaving us questioning if these are based mostly on actual occasions. And that makes them much more highly effective.
So many actually unbelievable traces leap out at us, calling out the racism and classism so clearly current. We hear joint enterprise described as “not a law but a mentality”. It’s arduous hitting. It ought to shake us to the very core that we permit such issues to nonetheless be true. “Poor, black, working, class: round them up” might actually be the canine whistling from sure components of our present authorities! Priti Patel even will get a direct identify examine for her notorious Question Time look the place she acknowledged that “the death penalty would act as a deterrent”, superbly responded to by Bernard with “she really means revenge.”
One additional piece addresses the media’s position in all this – how we’re conditioned by their fixed drip feed of language; “To the criminal justice system, the collective noun of black youths is ‘gang’”; giving us a motive to really feel ‘these’ persons are merely getting ‘what they deserve’. It all helps the narrative that if somebody is charged and convicted, effectively, they have to be responsible, as a result of our authorized system is flawless, isn’t it? As if there has by no means been a miscarriage of justice! Derek Bentley’s conviction was quashed in 1998.
And it’s this motive Joint is such a strong present. It addresses the regulation, it counters these arguments, it presents clear explanation why we needs to be indignant that such legal guidelines are nonetheless current. It is, as with all essentially the most highly effective theatre, a name to arms demanding we do one thing about it. Joint leaves you indignant on the state our nation is in, nevertheless it additionally leaves you energised and determined to discover a strategy to make a distinction. This is a name out of all of the lies and myths and we should always all be sitting up and listening.
Written by: Jay Bernard
Directed by: Jo Tyabji
Joint performed as a part of London Literature Festival at Southbank Centre. More data on the competition might be discovered right here, while extra data on Jay Bernard and this present might be discovered right here.