Rebecca Miller of Travers Smith Braitwaite and Denton Wilde SapteÕs John Wilks as Bianca and Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew Treading the boards is an entertaining way of doing some pro bono work, writes Jeremy Fleming


It may seem odd given Shakespeare's track record with lawyers – one character suggests killing them all in Henry VI Part 2 – to find a dedicated bunch of thespians in the City willing to pay homage to the bard.



But in the balmy summer months, that is precisely what Stopgap Productions does.



Founded in 2003 when its first production, 'The Taming of the Shrew', performed to a sell-out audience in Middle Temple gardens, its original aim was to raise funds to help secure the future of Paddington Law Centre, which was menaced with closure following the threat of withdrawal of local authority funding.



Stopgap raised more than £9,000 over three nights last summer, and this summer's production, 'The Merchant of Venice', will be staged in the same venue.



Stopgap is supported by City firm Travers Smith Braithwaite as part of its pro bono work, which is sponsoring this year's production, along with legal recruitment agency Garfield Robins. But the driving forces behind Stopgap, and some of the actors, are lawyers.



For them, treading the boards – or producing and directing – is a pastime that helps them find an insight into human nature.



Louise Hill, a one-year qualified commercial litigation lawyer at Travers, directed last year and is directing 'The Merchant of Venice'.



She says: 'Theatre is about the human ins and outs of things. The excitement of directing is that it allows you to pull out the human emotions from the narrative of the story. At its best, theatre gets beyond the bare facts of a story, and shows us the best and worst of ourselves and our culture.'



She explains that the productions in Middle Temple draw significance form their surroundings.



'The strong links between Shakespeare and the Inns of Court [it is widely believed that 'Twelfth Night' was first performed there]make it particularly interesting to be staging 'The Merchant of Venice' in Middle Temple gardens. It would be unbelievable that we would see in our courts today a scene like the courtroom battle between Shylock and Antonio, in which Antonio's lawyer also acts as judge and goads Shylock into committing a criminal offence in court.'



But she adds: 'The argument which is being played out at a human level, between “justice” or the letter of the law and mercy, is as relevant today as it was in any other era.'



John Wilks, a two-year qualified lawyer in the technology, media and communications department at City firm Denton Wilde Sapte, appeared in last year's production and will be on stage again this year, playing the Prince of Morocco.



He acted throughout school and during his time at Oxford University, where he got some valuable Shakespearian training, playing the Duke of Kent in a touring production to India, and appearing in a production of 'Taming of the Shrew' that toured Japan. He says: 'It's a change from the job, it's quite nice to do something creative.'



He says many people at Dentons express an interest in the performances and make the effort to attend.



Rachel Charters – a two-year qualified banking assistant with Nabarro Nathanson, acts as the producer, having met Ms Hill at university where the pair took plays to the Edinburgh Festival.



Stopgap uses many professional actors in addition to a few lawyers in its productions, but non-legal staff members at law firms also participate, such as Antony Hampton, the legal information officer in the London office of US firm Cleary Gottlieb.



Mr Hampton is taking the role of Solanio in the 'Merchant of Venice', and he too has a thespian past, having starred as 'Oliver' at school and appeared in Shakespeare productions at the Chichester festival as a teenager.



He spent several years as a professional actor before taking up his current job.



There are other opportunities to get up on stage for lawyers in London, as Mr Hampton knows, having appeared last year in London's Tricycle Theatre in an edited version of the anti-communist tribunals of Senator McCarthy called: 'Are you now or have you ever been?' The hearings of the Un-American Activities Committee.' This followed a 2001 production at the same theatre of 'Twelve Angry Men', which featured a cast taken wholly from the legal community.



So lawyers and the bard can go hand in hand. Besides, the often-quoted attack on lawyers from 'Henry VI' is spoken by Dick the Butcher, a follower of anarchist Jack Cade, whom Shakespeare depicts as 'the head of an army of rabble and a demagogue pandering to the ignorant', who sought to overthrow the government.



Shakespeare's acknowledgment that the first thing any potential tyrant must do to eliminate freedom is to 'kill all the lawyers' could therefore be interpreted as a compliment to the profession.



That said, it is hard to imagine the familiar thespian entreaties to 'break a leg' being shouted among this lot. A broken limb on stage could result in a pitch invasion by any personal injury lawyers in the audience.



• The Merchant of Venice runs from 2 to 6 August. Proceeds will go to Paddington Law Centre, the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, the London Legal Support Trust and Richard House Children's Hospice. Tickets cost £12 and can be obtained by e-mailing ProBono@TraversSmith.com.