Curtis Karnow

Four Shards Curtis Karnow

This is a collection of four short one act plays. Each exposes hard questions in the law. Nunc Pro Tunc compares the pros-- and the many cons-- of life in a law firm in 1961 to that in the present. Outcome Ordained explores the difficult and sometimes impossible issues that arise in a sentencing of a terrible crime, alluding to the perspectives of the victim, parents, the lawyers, the perpetrator, as well as the judge. The Interview, which is the only play partially based on a true story, asks whether the criminal justice system can ever truly deal with evil. Some of imagery in that play is brutal, and is not suitable for a younger audience. The collection ends with a lighter touch. Red Curtains is a conversation between two judges of different generations and very different approaches to the job of being a judge, but perhaps with other things in common.