Past trials take stand at Warwick’s former courthouse

The Slaughterhouse Players, working with the town mayor, will re-enact trials from the 18th and 19th centuries at Court 1 in the Grade I listed building on Friday night.

The cases have been taken from the transcripts in Warwickshire County Records Office and are written to mirror the courtroom procedure and language of the time in which they originally took place.

It being an interactive and comedy show, those in the audience are actively encouraged to dress in the fashions of the time and take part in the proceedings - while 12 lucky souls will be drawn at random to take their places in the courtroom as members of the jury, who will of course be asked to deliver a verdict on the trials taking place before them.

The actual verdicts given at the time of the original trials will not be revealed until the end of the evening.

Meanwhile, actors will join others in the audience, who will be invited to join in what is promising to be a “rumbustious” atmosphere to express their views on the proceedings.

Before attending the court cases, members of the audience will be taken on a conducted tour of the cells - not normally open to the public, including the atmospheric and disturbing subterranean dungeon where many died from disease and hypothermia while awaiting trial.

The Slaughterhouse Players are being supported in their unusual theatrical offering by town mayor Trudy Offer, who said: “Many of us who live in and love Warwick have long been waiting for life to be breathed back into the Old Warwick Crown Courts and Judges House.

“As Mayor I am delighted to be working with the Slaughterhouse Players to give those who would come, an experience of court cases past, as just one demonstration of the many ideas we have for this wonderful building. An evening encompassing the past - I can’t wait.”

The doors of the courts in Northgate Street will open at 7pm. Tickets cost £15 and include a ‘Warwickshire supper’, which will be served in the Judges House next door.

To buy tickets, visit Warwick tourist information office in Jury Street, The Tuckery in Old Square, the Tilted Wig in Market Square, the Oak in Coten End and the Wild Boar in Lakin Road, or call 0771 925 1017.