All the world's a stage

Why be a barrister

People often ask what is it that makes you want to be a barrister? Why would you want to stand up in court? Occasionally, after a particularly bruising day, barristers ask the question of themselves.

Although the personalities of barristers differ enormously, there is one thing that to some extent they have in common. They must have at least a spark of the theatrical in them, a desire to perform on one stage or another. It is more obvious in some than in others, but must be present in them all.

Either field

Some of course could have made it in either field. Mrs Justice Bracewell, who sadly died recently, was a case in point. A High Court Judge who had originally been in practice in Manchester, as a young teenager she was an actress. In 1948 she appeared in two films made by the Mancunian Film Corporation, Cup-Tie Honeymoon and Holidays With Pay. Another actress in the former was Pat Phoenix (then called Pilkington) who later was one of the most famous of all Coronation Street performers, playing Elsie Tanner. Joyanne Bracewell overcame all the hurdles that professional women faced in those days, to become a barrister, then QC, then judge. As the Leader of the Northern Circuit, Michael Redfern QC, stated at the eulogy (tribute to a dead member of the circuit) given for her at Manchester High Court, although she became Dame Joyanne Bracewell as a judge (the equivalent for women of a knighthood), she would probably also have ended up as Dame Joyanne Bracewell had she stayed an actress.

First stage appearance

My first appearance on the stage was extremely modest (even if I was not). In the early 1960s Trafford Park was still a big hive of industry. In those days, just before Christmas, factories would have parties for the workers' children. My father worked in a factory there. At the parties there would be more than a hundred children.

Toy cigarettes

Although in the modern climate it might seem astonishing, children bought packets of toy cigarettes which you could pretend to smoke and then could eat (they were sweets). (I liked the toy cigarettes but never graduated to the real ones). The entertainer on the stage offered a free packet of toy cigarettes to the children who would come upon the stage and be part of the act. He only wanted two. I thought that you would be knocked over in the rush to get one of those two places. As far as I could see, getting sweets for standing up and performing in front of a lot of people was a child's version of money for nothing. I was astonished that there were only two volunteers. Perhaps others were thinking about it, but only two of us thrust up our arms without hesitating.

Moment of decision

Being on stage is easy. By the time I left I was even more convinced that it was like money for nothing. After that during my school years I always did public speaking and appearing on stage. I was equally happy delivering my own lines or someone else's. Having enjoyed my first public performance, I was eager for more.

Not exactly in the same league as appearing in films. However, if you examine the background of every barrister I bet you would find that there was some moment when they decided that performing in public would not be a bad way of making a living. If you are reading this and thinking of becoming a barrister yourself, try and think when that moment was. There is bound to be one somewhere.

Michael J. Booth QC