Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons^™

The Disappearing Fourth Wall: Law, Ethics, And Experiential Theatre, Mary Lafrance

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The cutting edge of experiential theatre blurs the lines between performer and audience. Both the performer and the audience are vulnerable. Audiences may be subject to assaultive or disturbing behavior or images. The performance may take place in an unconventional venue that poses safety hazards. A single audience member may be alone with a performer, who may engage in provocative or shocking behavior, including verbal abuse or touching. The performer may invite similar conduct from the participant. Typically, the participant does not know in advance what will take place and does not sign a waiver. While the performer has a …

Book Reviews, Henry N. Wieman, Jerome Hall

Vanderbilt Law Review

The problem discussed by Professor Stumpf in his book Morality and the Law can be summarized by these questions: Do we have two kinds of prescribed conduct, one prescribed by morality independent of the government, the other prescribed by government independent of morality? Or is prescription by government necessarily moral because government is necessarily moral by reason of being the government? If not, under what conditions, if any, does prescription by government become a moral prescription? Under what conditions, if any, is government, by law, a matter of expedience, not to be confused with morality?

reviewer: Henry Nelson Wieman

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