The priest enters in procession into the nave and all bow when reaching the sanctuary. The house lights dim and the curtain rises. The marshal orders “all rise’” and the gavel bangs. Each of the rituals announces the beginning of a performance. But what is a “ritual”? And even more important, what is a “performance,” especially when considered in the context of law?

When we talk about the performative aspects of law, we could be thinking of things that are obvious and well-documented (e.g., at a trial all the lawyers and witnesses are in some sense “acting”) or things that are hidden (often in plain sight) and rarely considered (e.g., in previous installments in this series, we saw how courthouses and courtrooms transmit meaning independent of what goes on within them).