PRIMA FACIE
****
Director: Justin Martin
Screenplay: Suzie Miller
Principal cast:
Jodie Comer
Country: UK
Classification: CTC
Runtime: 120 mins. (inc. interviews)
Australian release date: 23 July 2022.
The play Prime Facie was initially staged by the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney in 2019 and then reprised in 2021, before being cancelled mid-season due to the dreaded COVID-19 bug. It was an immediate hit and both productions were almost completely sold out. It also won two Australian Writers Guild Awards, including the Major Award (previously called the Gold AWGIE) for best drama of the year. A one-woman show, it starred Sheridan Harbridge, who received multiple accolades for her performance. It was written by the prolific Australian playwright Suzie Miller, who was a barrister before changing her career and taking up writing full-time. Prime Facie is a powerful, incendiary work, absolutely topical in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Speaking to the Guardian Australia, Miller declared that, “I am a playwright who believes in the power of theatre, believes in it with every fibre of my being. Believes in the strength of storytelling as an agent of change. Believes in audiences and in igniting imaginations so we can step into a character’s lived reality. If I am being truly honest when I ask myself: ‘what do I want out of theatre?’, the answer would be: I passionately want the same thing I passionately wanted as a human rights lawyer - I want to change the world.”
Now, the play has reached the West End stage in London, in a production by the National Theatre starring Jodie Comer (known to Australian audiences for her compelling role in Killing Eve) and we can see it on local screens, thanks to the National Theatre Live series of filmed plays. Comer portrays a successful lawyer who’s made a name for herself defending men accused of sexual abuse. She’s an impassioned advocate of the strength of the legal system until the day she herself is sexually abused by a colleague and she realises how difficult it is to get justice for the victim in such cases. Of this difficulty, the author says, “I do believe in the concept of innocent until proved guilty, but at the same time I don’t think the adversarial criminal system is a forum fit for purpose when it comes to sexual assault”.
Comer is simply incredible as she morphs from prosecutor to victim. For 100 minutes or so, she holds the floor, delivering a fast-paced monologue that involves costume changes and taking on other characters but at no time does she falter. Her voice is as strong as the expressions on her face in the early part of the play but, as events unfold, her demeanour shifts and she becomes less sure of her previous convictions. Her performance is not just a mental tour-de-force but a physical one as well.
Prime Facie is a confrontational play that delivers a message which needs to be addressed - it makes no apology for the unfairness in the way women have been treated in the past and, regrettably, will probably continue to be treated in the future. It does not preach; it just tells the truth. A male member of the audience at the preview screening, when exiting the cinema during the end credits, said words to the effect of “what a load of rubbish,” reinforcing the fact that there is still a long road to hoe before attitudes change. Do not miss this NT Live production of Prime Facie as it is undoubtedly one of the most powerful performances you will see ‘live’ on stage this, or any other, year.
Screenplay: Suzie Miller
Principal cast:
Jodie Comer
Country: UK
Classification: CTC
Runtime: 120 mins. (inc. interviews)
Australian release date: 23 July 2022.
The play Prime Facie was initially staged by the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney in 2019 and then reprised in 2021, before being cancelled mid-season due to the dreaded COVID-19 bug. It was an immediate hit and both productions were almost completely sold out. It also won two Australian Writers Guild Awards, including the Major Award (previously called the Gold AWGIE) for best drama of the year. A one-woman show, it starred Sheridan Harbridge, who received multiple accolades for her performance. It was written by the prolific Australian playwright Suzie Miller, who was a barrister before changing her career and taking up writing full-time. Prime Facie is a powerful, incendiary work, absolutely topical in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Speaking to the Guardian Australia, Miller declared that, “I am a playwright who believes in the power of theatre, believes in it with every fibre of my being. Believes in the strength of storytelling as an agent of change. Believes in audiences and in igniting imaginations so we can step into a character’s lived reality. If I am being truly honest when I ask myself: ‘what do I want out of theatre?’, the answer would be: I passionately want the same thing I passionately wanted as a human rights lawyer - I want to change the world.”
Now, the play has reached the West End stage in London, in a production by the National Theatre starring Jodie Comer (known to Australian audiences for her compelling role in Killing Eve) and we can see it on local screens, thanks to the National Theatre Live series of filmed plays. Comer portrays a successful lawyer who’s made a name for herself defending men accused of sexual abuse. She’s an impassioned advocate of the strength of the legal system until the day she herself is sexually abused by a colleague and she realises how difficult it is to get justice for the victim in such cases. Of this difficulty, the author says, “I do believe in the concept of innocent until proved guilty, but at the same time I don’t think the adversarial criminal system is a forum fit for purpose when it comes to sexual assault”.
Comer is simply incredible as she morphs from prosecutor to victim. For 100 minutes or so, she holds the floor, delivering a fast-paced monologue that involves costume changes and taking on other characters but at no time does she falter. Her voice is as strong as the expressions on her face in the early part of the play but, as events unfold, her demeanour shifts and she becomes less sure of her previous convictions. Her performance is not just a mental tour-de-force but a physical one as well.
Prime Facie is a confrontational play that delivers a message which needs to be addressed - it makes no apology for the unfairness in the way women have been treated in the past and, regrettably, will probably continue to be treated in the future. It does not preach; it just tells the truth. A male member of the audience at the preview screening, when exiting the cinema during the end credits, said words to the effect of “what a load of rubbish,” reinforcing the fact that there is still a long road to hoe before attitudes change. Do not miss this NT Live production of Prime Facie as it is undoubtedly one of the most powerful performances you will see ‘live’ on stage this, or any other, year.