ARTS REVIEW
ARTS REVIEW
“It is 100 minutes of raw talent.” ISSY STRATFORD
“During its theatre run, Prima Facie was notably nominated for five Olivier awards, winning two, and was nominated for four Tony awards, winning one, among other accolades.”
KEIRA MCEWAN
The play follows Tessa Ensler, a cunningly sly criminal defence barrister, who has fought her way from a working-class background in Liverpool into becoming a Cambridge law school educated lawyer. Comer masterfully lures the audience in with her intense portrayals of the snappy, unforgiving nature of a court of law in a sexual assault trial. Tessa earns her surname from Eve Ensler, who wrote the 1996 play ‘ The Vagina Monologues ’, an incredibly important political performance on consensual and non-consensual sexual experiences. Tessa already has an advantage as a likeable character due to the audience’s love of the actress, but she quickly cements herself in our hearts, showing herself as hardworking but not un-spirited. We see her in multiple environments: professional in court, drunk at a work party, slightly out of place in her childhood home. She is relatable to all in a way that not many characters are able to be. That is the beauty of Suzie Miller’s writing: deeply thought-out characters who (thanks to Miller’s background
as a lawyer) enable the audience to feel smart, as the knowledge hidden underneath perfectly timed quips and jokes is given to us as if we already know it. A score of Ibiza-like party music from Self Esteem (Rebecca Lucy Taylor) aids in elevating this intimate environment, almost as if bantering with friends. However, when Tessa herself is sexually assaulted, the mood quickly changes. Comer’s ability to change tones at such speed is awe-inspiring. She acts out the assault with such integrity and emotion that not a single person in the theatre could help but to cry. The play is perfectly paced, enough time is spent on the assault that we know it is heavy, but we quickly move on to the aftermath. The staging here is gorgeous, at one point, it begins to ‘rain’, with water pouring onto the stage and onto Comer just long enough to wonder if it will spill out into the stands. The music becomes pained, and heartbeats are more frequently used, and we therefore feel Tessa’s fear so vividly we are reminded of what it is to be human.
Prima Facie Putting the Legal System on Trial
KEIRA MCEWAN
Like a lot of teenagers my age, I spent my time in lockdown watching far too much TV. A personal favourite show of mine is BBC’s Killing Eve. Naturally, when I discovered that Jodie Comer, who portrayed Villanelle in Killing Eve, was going to be in the West End, I decided I had to go. And I am so lucky I did. Not only did the show sell out on the West End in London, but it was also put on in New York on Broadway, becoming an instant hit there too.
The show? A 100-minute, one woman play, written by Suzie Miller and starring Comer: Prima Facie. Written by a lawyer, Prima Facie is a stunningly heart-breaking critique of the legal system and how it treats sexual assault, especially centred around women’s experiences. Comer plays every character, oftentimes ending up holding conversations by herself as multiple different people. She has costume changes on stage and frequently rearranges the furniture to change the scene. It is 100 minutes of raw talent.
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