“It’s so heartening to see a Sydney playwright make it on the international stage. It’s even more inspiring to see that the Australian public is responding, with sellout screenings already happening. And it’s not happening because of artistic parochialism. It’s because this is a high quality play.“
Con Nats
4 /5 Gavels
Originally published July 26, 2022
It’s so heartening to see a Sydney playwright make it on the international stage. It’s even more inspiring to see that the Australian public is responding, with sellout screenings already happening. And it’s not happening because of artistic parochialism. It’s because this is a high quality play.
Prima Facie is a one-woman monologue of 100 undulating minutes, about a defence lawyer who reports being raped, and her experience of going through the system. (It’s telling that her challenges are just as real here in Australia as they are in England.)
The irony is obvious, but it’s not the main attraction. The searing performance of Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) is. She plays Tessa Ensler, a successful lawyer who happily tells us of her working class upbringing, her mother and brother, all with a change into a red silk shirt. She starts off with a fast paced, comic delivery which I loved. She explains her approach to defending the indefensible; how to discredit a victim, the ethics involved, the victories enjoyed and the male dominated environment. She plays every other character, moves the set and moves in and around it to keep the pace flowing and is hilarious when dancing and being sick.
Her star is shooting and career is rising… and then the rape occurs. The pace drops suddenly and when a counter appears numbering the number of days until her trail comes to court, it’s the only break in the flow. Comer’s shift in gears is totally believable.
Court rooms do allow the playwright to have characters grandstanding and making passionate speeches. At least in this play, the jury is removed from the courtroom and is more realistic, and it’s the only time I felt Tessa was preaching. But it’s an important indulgence to take, and as she notes, the jury didn’t get to hear it.
Director Justin Martin’s set is a simple multi level library of legal folders that goes to black during the trail and is strategically lit towards the end. It’s just enough. His pacing of Comer’s performance is excellent.
Watching Tessa deliver her experience from the other side of the bar is more than enlightening and challenging to your own beliefs. After watching the recent Depp v Heard trial, I could see many of the tactics employed in that trail reflected here. And the side arguments about ethics are also discussed. The difference between ‘legal truth’ and ‘truth’ is one that has always disturbed me, and if you’ve ever argued with a lawyer, you’ll know why. Legal truth is a universe they live and breathe in, until real truth hits them like a loaded semi-trailer in fifth gear. It’s only when through personal experience is their unshakeable belief in the law shattered, and they have a taste of living in the real world where we already suffer from this discrepancy. As one person told me, the system has to protect men from false claims… but if only 1.3% of reported rapes are making it to trail, then the system is broken. It’s protecting rapists.
It’s probably incongruous to be debating societies issues in a review of a play, but that is the passion this one inspires.
Even though this is reportedly selling out, Prima Facie is not a one-off performance. You probably missed it at the theatre. Don’t miss it on the big screen.
Con Nats, On The Screen
