Possible follow-ups

1. Choose an evening's viewing for;

a) a foreign visitor whose Russian is good and who is very interested in learning more about Russia and our way of life;

b) a foreign visitor whose Russian is not very good.

2. Write a composition on one of the following topics:

a) The year 2003. What changes in television would you expect to have taken place?

b) The pros and cons of TV educational programmes.

c) The challenges of TV for teenage viewers.

THE INVESTIGATION

Situation

Mrs June Brown was detained for shoplifting. She was accused of having stolen a girl's woolen pullover. Mrs Brown refused to say any­thing and consequently the police were called and she was charged with theft. The facts are the following:

Mrs Brown was in a hurry. She wanted to buy a new pullover for her daughter Jean before taking her to her cousin's birthday party. Mrs Brown found a pullover in the shop she called at with her daughter on her way to the party. As soon as she had paid for the pullover she saw that Jean had chocolate all over her face and hands. Furious she asked a sales as­sistant where the toilets were. Then in the toilet Mrs Brown changed Jean's old pullover for the new one. They would have to run if they were going to ever get to the party. But in the street she was grabbed by a man accompanied by a woman. The woman said that they had reason to be­lieve that Mrs Brown was shoplifting. The evidence against Mrs Brown was that the woman, Mrs Baker, a store detective, had entered the toilets and had seen Mrs Brown putting a new pullover over her daughter's head.

You are to enact the preliminary investigation of the case conducted by two counsels: the counsel for the Prosecution and the counsel for the Defence.

Cast list

Mrs June Brown, the accused Mrs Mary Baker, a store detective Miss Becky Smith, a sales assistant Mr Clark Timpson, the sales manager Miss Nora Lain, a customer in the shop Counsel for the Prosecution Counsel for the Defence

What you must decide (after the role play)

On the basis of the evidence collected by the two counsels during the investigation you must decide whether the matter should be brought to court.