Plaidoiries (Pleadings) with Richard Berry at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz

Thtre Raymond Kabbaz (TRK), the innovative performance space at Le Lyce Franais de Los Angeles, kicks off its 19th season with Plaidoiries (Pleadings), a solo performance with famous French actor and director, Richard Berry, on September 13 & 14, 2019, at 7:30 pm. Performed by actor Richard Berry, the play resurrects the closing arguments of six attorneys in cases that had significant public impact in France:-In 1972, Gisle Halimi paved the way for the legalization of abortion with an astonishing speech in defense of a teenage girl and her relatives, on trial for abortion after a rape; -In 1976, Paul Lombard, makes the case for the innocence of Christian Ranucci who was one of the last men to be sentenced to death and guillotined in France;-Jean-Pierre Mignard defends the family of two boys, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traor, who were electrocuted after taking refuge in a power station because they believed they were being chased by the police;-In 2009, this case involved a woman, Vronique Courjault, who killed three of her babies.-Maurice Papon, convicted of crimes against humanity in 1998 for his part in the deportation of Jews under the Vichy government between 1942 and 1944: this case is a powerful reminder of French history.-In 2009, Philippe Lemaire, lawyer of widow of former French prefect Claude Erignac, in the trial of Yvan Colonna, accused in 1998 of his assassination.The production is based on a book by Matthieu Aron, a longtime court reporter who is now deputy editor in chief at the newsmagazine LObservateur. Without recordings, French trial arguments are generally lost to posterity; to counter that, Mr. Aron opted to reconstruct 45 of them, using his own notes as well as shorthand court archives and lawyers copies of their arguments.Plaidoiries adapts them back for live audiences and, in the process, recaptures crucial moments in French history. Globes de Cristal Award for Best Play in 2019** PLAY IN FRENCH **