Written by Jupi Callisto
Jodie Comer’s performance of the one-woman play ‘Prima Facie’ written by Australian-British playwright Suzie Miller is returning to cinemas across the UK today (12th September 2024). Its initial production took place at the Stables Theatre in Australia with Sheridan Harbridge taking on the role of Tessa before it moved to the West-end in 2022 and then Broadway in 2023 both of which starred Jodie Comer as Tessa Ensler. It has since been performed in many other countries. Four years on from its initial performance there is still an incredible way to go in terms of how victims and perpetrators alleged and convicted are treated within and out of court but with the play having been turned into a novel and soon a film starring Cynthia Erivo as Tessa, there is opportunity for it to reach an even wider audience and provoke more change.
From the moment she steps on stage, Comer presents with an unshakeable confidence as Tessa Ensler, a barrister who specialises in cases of sexual assault defending those who have been accused. Comer perfectly captures Tessa’s sharp mind and the satisfaction she draws from her career. Tessa Ensler’s perspective of the law has only ever been shaped by what she's seen throughout her career. She references cases with a sense of disconnect, “it's not emotional for me, it's the game. The game of law.” This suggests that Tessa can disregard her own views in order to make the jury side with her client. As Tessa narrates her victories with rapid-fire precision, Comer never loses the audience, even in the densest moments of legalese. Instead, she keeps us hooked by the force of her delivery.
However, the brilliance of Comer’s performance lies in the emotional change she makes during the play. When Tessa herself becomes the victim of sexual assault, the transformation Comer undergoes is astounding. Suddenly, the woman who seemed invincible in the courtroom finds herself on the other side of the system, “This is what it feels like. Same court, no armour.” Comer conveys the shock, and eventual devastation that Tessa experiences with such honesty it is almost visceral. Her breakdown is gut-wrenching—there is no theatricality here, only the naked, painful reality of someone who feels utterly powerless.
The way Comer handles the contradictions within the character of Tessa is striking. The portrayal of arrogance and vulnerability with equal skill and the ability to shift from a confident, fast-talking professional to a woman grappling with trauma and disillusionment is a testament to Comer’s remarkable range and emotional depth. The clear difference between those adrenaline-charged moments to the quiet reflective pauses allows the gravity of Tessa’s situation to sink in for the audience and herself.
During the ending moments of the play, Tessa learns the true difference between legal truth and real truth. She has been educated and practised legal truth, the truth including physical and forensic evidence, but she has experienced real truth, a truth only she and Julian know, one she can only prove with evidence she had washed away. Comer’s performance towards the end of the play is much more emotional despite Tessa’s original views of her time in court, “it’s not emotional for me,” the way this emotion is presented is a fruitful way of proving to the audience that despite Tessa’s education and experience in dealing with cases of sexual assault and knowledge of how they are solved and dealt with she knowingly erases all evidence of it. This is important for Comer to show the initial shame that accompanies a victim after a rape has occurred. It also shows Tessa cross-examining herself in the exact same way she would an alleged victim in her own court almost immediately after the rape has happened. Comer’s performance becomes almost haunting at this time as she transitions between personal grief to a wider critique of systemic injustice which is delivered with such urgency and clarity that it lingers with the audience long after the curtain has fallen.
The minimalistic staging of the play amplifies Comer’s presence. Being the only actor on the stage the focus is constantly directly aimed towards her. Her masterful use of the space includes pacing around the stage recounting the case and curling into herself in moments of anguish. Depending on the scene her ability to make the stage look vast but also claustrophobic is mesmerising. Jodie Comer’s incredible ability to switch between accents was also a good decision for the play as although it is her alone on the stage we can imagine and differentiate between the other characters mentioned in the story by the way Comer can give them all a clear personality and characteristics.
Miller has written the play in the shape of a poem, short lines make up the narrative and so the pace of the performance is quickened. The movements in the beginning of the play are also quite a bit sharper than those in the end. This could be a way to show the difference in control Tessa has over the different situations as she has significantly more control in the first half. The first half of the play is much quicker with many of the lines containing only one word, “Stop. Still. Perfect. Danger.” The pace in this half of the play is also aided by the fast heartbeat-like sounds in the background, this sound allows the audience to deepen their understanding of the tension within the court. The heartbeat could represent both Tessa’s feeling of adrenaline from being so close to winning or the feeling of fear within the people whose case we are watching. The pace of the second half of the play is much slower, the written lines are longer so Comer takes more care in delivering them. Many lines towards the end, for example, “The last seven hundred and eighty-two days of my life have been something I would never wish upon any human being.” are much longer in order for time to be given to the audience to think about what has been said.
In March of this year, I attended an event entitled, ‘An Evening With Suzie Miller’ in Liverpool Waterstones which was incredibly interesting in terms of learning about the reception of the play. The amount of people speaking out about their own experiences because of the play shows that it has had a great impact. Miller herself was a lawyer before becoming a writer, during this time she mentioned that they would have many women every week seeking help after an assault, but most would go without a court case let alone prosecution. Having done more research, I discovered that less than one per cent of reported cases lead to conviction. This raises the question, 'Why should people risk everything by going to court when the chance of your attacker being found guilty is less than 1%?' With it also being reported that the average sexual assault case takes 817 days to reach court it's no wonder over half of those who do begin a case decide to close it. On a more positive note, Miller mentioned that lawyers, police officers and judges who had seen or read the play 'Prima Facie' had begun to change their views on cases of sexual assault which suggests that change may come closer than expected.