Daniel Hershkop (1L)
Obscure insults, lavish outfits, and pretentious accents were highlights of this year’s Literary Moot Benefit. The trial concerned a contentious sequence of events in Shakepeare’s Othello. Is Iago, Othello’s scheming ensign, guilty of counselling him to murder his beloved wife Desdemona? As University in the Community’s Program Coordinator Joanne Mackay-Bennett put it “413 years later, Iago is finally getting his due.”
The Literary Moot is put on yearly at Innis College in support of University in the Community (UiTC). UiTC provides university level humanities courses to vulnerable adults who would not ordinarily consider formal education. It is an initiative supported by the Workers’ Educational Association, and U of T’s Innis College and Senior College. Professors from U of T and Ryerson University volunteer their time to teach a range of topics each semester.
Despite being about 413 years too late, the trial of Iago went off without a hitch thanks to volunteers from across the legal profession. Dean Iacobucci presided over this year’s trial. Ms. Lauren Posloski of Norton Rose Fulbright acted for the crown, and Ms. Angela Chaisson of Ruby & Shiller was counsel for the defence. Each side called upon witnesses played by members of the Faculty of Law.
Bianca, a local courtesan, was played by Professor Brenda Cossman. She took the stand dressed in flowing robes and a flower crown. When she denied being a “strumpet,” she was given a rude awakening by the Defence. “You’re a minxy, lady of the night, strumpety strumpet!” Ms. Chaisson bellowed in reply. Admittedly, neither side quite knew what a “strumpet” was.
Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant, was played by Professor Martha Shaffer. She was composed on the stand, calling her role in Iago’s scheme the “biggest mistake of her life.”
Brabantio, a senator and Desdemona’s resentful father, was played by Professor Anthony Niblett. Bellicose and uncooperative, he admitted to using words that he could “neither understand nor embiggen.” Despite the pleas of both counsels and the presiding judge, he began describing Desdemona’s conception in florid detail:
Many years ago, on a cold autumn eve,
I looked at Desdemona’s mother, and said a daughter we need…
As Brabantio left the stand, Dean Iacobucci noted “I think we are all relieved that that is over.”
Despite convincing closing statements from both the defence and the crown (“The defence would have you rely on “facts”), it was clear to Dean Iacobucci that Iago was innocent. People whose names begin with I-A can’t be all bad, he reasoned. In fact, Iago is only a ‘bucci’ away from something pleasing to the ear.
This year’s Moot, organized by Alayna Dueck (2L), was sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright. It has raised nearly $3,500 for UiTC thus far.
