Prima Facie

by Suzie Miller

Tessa is a young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from working-class origins to the top of her game: defending, cross-examining and winning. But an unexpected event forces her to confront the patriarchal power of the law, where the burden of proof and morality diverge. Prima Facie by Suzie Miller is an award-winning play for a solo actor, taking us deep into a world where emotion and integrity are in conflict with the rules of the game.

After several acclaimed productions in Australia and winning the Australian Writers' Guild Award for Drama, the play received its European premiere at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in April 2022.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Drama, Theatre, Feminism, Contemporary, Audiobook

98 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2022

Reviews

[Thythighs]

would sell my soul to watch jodie perform this live

[samantha]

“one in three women. look to your left, look to your right, one of us” at a loss for words, suzie miller’s writing moved me in a way that no other story ever has. absolutely brilliant. a must read

[Doug]

4.5, rounded down.

Really impressive - one wonders how anyone could actually memorize and perform a 98-page monologue, but apparently Jodie Comer was outstanding. I just don't really cotton to the format, and this does get a bit preachy/didactic in the final pages. probably unavoidable given the subject matter.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...

[Connie]

After seeing this live in June, and then seeing it four times in the cinema, I can literally see Jodie performing when I read this. We already know how amazing Jodie is, but Suzie Miller!! What an incredible playwright. So moving, truthful and so so important. I will never get bored of reading this, and it still makes me cry. Every time.
I will forever recommend and urge people to read this!

[Amy Rose]

look to your left look to your right :(

[alisa]

I finally got to see jodie perform this play yesterday, then I read the script. It is such a masterpiece and so important, I can’t even put into words what it made me feel (especially seeing jodie perform it). Incredibly important, powerful, heartbreaking & emotional, watch & read if you can!!!

[Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder]

A Devastating One-Woman Performance
Review of the Nick Hern Books (UK) paperback (January 2022) of the original Currency Press (Australia) paperback (2018).

'Because,
the truth is that
one in every three women are sexually assaulted.
And their voices need to be heard.
They need to be believed,
for justice to be done.'
I hear the judge now.
I have gone beyond what I am allowed to say.
well beyond.
One in three women.
Look to your left,
look to your right,
one of us...

This is perhaps a 4-star on paper, but after recently seeing Jodie Comer's performance as filmed and broadcast via National Theatre Live, I have no hesitation in rating it as a 5-star.

Defense barrister Tessa Ensler is at the top of her game and is a rising star at her chambers. The first half of the work shows her glorying in her success while looking back at her working class roots and at her early years in law school. Many of her cases deal with sexual assault, and there is a sense that defendants choose her for the added sympathy that a female defense lawyer might provide.

The second half takes a shocking turn when Ensler herself is assaulted by a co-worker and decides to press charges based on her faith in the justice system. That faith is soon to be broken.


Jodie Comer as Tessa Ensler in "Prima Facie."

Former lawyer Suzie Miller wrote Prima Facie in the early years of the #MeToo era and thought at first it would become outdated as real world events moved to correct things. Time has proved to her that it is as relevant as ever.


Sheridan Harbridge originated the role of Tessa Ensler at the Stables Theatre, Sydney, Australia in 2019. Image sourced from Currency Press.

Trivia and Links
You can see the trailer for the National Theatre Live broadcast of Prima Facie on YouTube here.

Playwright Suzie Miller introduces Prima Facie in an interview which you can watch on YouTube here.

Aside from the National Theatre Live production, since 2023 there is also a plan to expand and adapt Prima Facie as a feature length film. You can watch for updates on that at IMDb here.

[david]

Me too.

This play centers around this recent movement, although I suspect similar behaviors have always been apparent.

The woman who wrote this play, an ex-barrister, worked herself up the legal ladder to become a defense attorney (in Australia?).

She often, while practicing, did not believe in the sincerity of her female clients claims of rape; that there must have been some culpability on the part of her clientage.

In this play, she reconsiders her role as an advocate for her constituency, when she herself is confronted and abused by a fellow male defense barrister.

“Reality is when it happens to you.”

A tough play to read.

A necessary one to know, especially for nonplussed men.

[Claire]

Read this after listening to an interview with Suzie Miller about her large working class Catholic family upbringing in Melbourne, her ease at academic study, her initial foray into science, immunology and the decision not to pursue that because of the quiet of a life or career in a laboratory for a chatterbox.
do she went back to study law and become a barrister, but found little meaning in corporate law and noticed the privileged lineage(s) it contained, so quit to join an organisation that defended the marginalised, the indigenous, working class women. She understood how the law did not serve them and did her best case by case, but she wanted to see change and she saw the place and power of storytelling in that.

So she reschooled again in screenplay writing and theatre and began to write plays to address issues of social and legal justice. And in her home country had difficulty getting traction for them.

Ever the scientist, she carried out an experiment.
One of her earlier plays she sent to every theatre in Australia, plus 1 copy to London and 1 to New York.
Every one she sent within Australia turned it down. Both London and New York said yes, and the rest is history.

The interview was so enthralling, including and especially the response to this particular play in effecting change by those responsible for teaching the next wave of lawyers. More than a play, this became the basis for meaningful dialogue with judges and with school groups over what "consent" means. So many did/do not understand it.

This one woman play premiered in 2019 in Sydney and was at the National Theatre in London and is soon to play in Dublin, Ireland.
The play has been adapted into a novel, but I decided I wanted to have the experience of reading the more dramatic, theatre form played by Jodie Comer.

Highly Recommended.

[Camille Moore]

I received this book in the mail before I went to London to see Jodie Comer’s impeccable performance. I’m glad that I listened to my gut and waited to read this because now, I am reliving that day through the words in print. This book/play I really can’t find the words for but SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE! Coming from one of the one in three, our voices deserve to be heard. Be the voice, not an echo.
Jodie and Suzie are 5 star and a million thumbs up duo. I hope and pray that this play will eventually be released on digital media because it deserves to be seen by everyone.

[Niamh]

I need to see Jodie Comer performing this play. I need to. It made me feel so so so angry. It’s so important.

[Béatrice]

“The law of sexual assault spins on the wrong axis.
A woman’s experience of sexual assault
does not fit the male-defined system of truth.
So it cannot be truth,
and therefore there cannot be justice.

The law has been shaped
by generations and generations of men.”

hits hard when you are studying sexual assault in your penal law class

[norrell]

For such an important theme, the actual content is quite lackluster, such a shame. The set-up is interesting and promises nuance and depth coupled with great introspection but the execution is lacking unfortunately.
Will watch it if I get the chance, simply because of Jodie Comer
2.4/5

[Connie]

I went to see this play in June 2022 in London...

At the time, I only went because Jodie Comer was playing Tessa.

Since then, I now work at my local Crown Court, supporting victims like Tessa and I am starting law school next month.

This edition has the scripture changes made for the Broadway run, which is interesting to compare to the original London script.

I also love the input from Jodie, Suzie and the PF Team, as well as leading criminal barristers and other important people in the world of getting justice for sexual assault victims.

I will forever be grateful to Suzie for writing this play, and to Jodie for giving victims a voice.

[lena]

"something has to change." i cannot stop crying

[michele ✡︎]

amazing! i'd like to have my lobotomy now please and thank you 🫶

[Nadja]

An incredible piece of theatre. So important. I would have loved to see Jodie Comer perform it live on stage, and to experience the set design and music.

[Jonathan]

It feels like an op-ed disguised as a play.

[Flavie Petitclerc]

Puissant, impressionnant et essentiel

[Jessica]

A quick read on the train. A handful of lines are a bit twee/pretentious so it's more like a 4.5⭐
A detailed, raw, and brutal comment on the legal system and its treatment of victims who have experienced trauma. The fact it's a monologue with the inner thought of a Barrister is captivating and I NEED to find a way to see how it was staged with the recent Jodie Comer performance. The writer's note is eye-opening and definitely something to start a discussion, and (more importantly) change.

[Maha Ahmad]

" the law has been shaped by generations and generations of men"
"one in every three women. One to your left, one to your right"
"Something has to change"
"innocent until proven not guilty"

A very moving book and I wish I could see Jodie Comer live!!!
It makes you laugh at first when she starts expressing her personality and then the plot builds and leaves you shocked. The play shows how victims of sexual assault are treated during cross-examination which shook me to my core.

[Jane Milton]

This will be a difficult read for a lot of people. Difficult but important. I feel like I should say something more profound, but I’m reeling a bit from reading it. Rape trials need a rethink.

[Marie]

Ein beeindruckendes Buch, das uns erneut verdeutlicht, dass zwischen Recht haben und Recht bekommen ein meilenweiter Unterschied liegt. Ein aufschlussreicher, spannender und zutiefst trauriger Roman über das Leben als Frau. So viele Frauen teilen diese Erfahrung und es gibt noch immer zu wenig Möglichkeiten die Täter zu bestrafen. Jede dritte Frau erlebt sexualisierte Gewalt. Es sind keine Zufälle, es ist ein System!

Offen bleibt: Wo ist sind wir Frauen sicher, und von wem werden wir geschützt, wenn uns das Schlimmste passiert ist?

[Marie M]

4.5 for the German translation, because somehow the dialogues didn’t feel very natural to me.

Other than that a fantastic read. As a women, the story was unfortunately foreseeable (which is the whole point though and doesn’t take away from how captivating and empowering this book is). I finish this with a heavy heart and pure anger, as intended.

[Leo Ratz]

At first I feared that a (more or less) monologous play might not translate as well when you're just reading the book, but I don't think that's a problem Suzie Miller has at all. This hurts in all the right spaces and ways and is a scary, scarring read that makes so angry and powerless. There might be some shimmers of hope, but it's really hard to recognise them through pages of trauma and despair.

[Sophia]

Look to your left,
look to your right.
I am broken.
But I am still here.
And I will not be silenced.

Seeing this live was easily one of the most powerful experiences of my life. Thank you Suzie Miller for creating Tessa and thank you Jodie Comer for bringing Tessa to life.

[Robin]

“Something has to change”
La mejor obra de teatro que he visto/leído en mucho tiempo. Si me conocéis en persona por favor leedlo 😋

[Åsne Sørlie-Nordnes]

noe av det beste jeg har lest

[Sunniva B]

Wow, godt skrevet, spennende å lese det som et manus. Vond historie

[Juniper]

This play is brilliant, and I am so upset I never got the chance to see Jodie Comer perform this live. Prima Facie tells the story of a successful defence barrister who finds herself in the witness box after experiencing a sexual assault. This play highlights the sheer injustice within the legal system, and how it sways in the perpetrator's favour under the pretence that the victim "cannot be believed." Tessa's experience is one that one in three women experience in their lifetime, though many cases do not make it to court. This play is so powerful in its portrayal of the event and the aftermath - including the sexual assault as a scene allows us to see how the defence twists and reframes Tessa's experience in a way that makes it seem like she was not a victim. This was hard to read at certain points, but it brings attention to the issue of how normalised sexual assault is in a way that is so powerful. I hope this play can bring about change in the law system, even if just a little bit.

"Look to your left, look to your right. I am broken. But I am still here. And I will not be silenced."