Type – Legal, Courtroom, One-woman-show
If you like – RBG, Consent, Inter Alia
Prima Facie: Devastatingly relevant, disarmingly frank, and powerfully moving
Content warning: This review discusses rape and sexual violence.
When Prima Facie first premiered in 2019, it was an immediate success. It’s a call to arms and a plea for change that provides a raw look into the price sexual assault victims pay for speaking up. This one-woman-show explores how structurally biased our legal system is against the plaintiff in rape trials.
Written by Australian criminal defence barrister-turned-playwright, Suzie Miller, Prima Facie speaks such a universally resonant truth, and has since gone on to have global impact. Translated into more than thirty languages and performed in more than 15 countries, it inspired a British judge to rewrite direction given to the jury across the UK and has become mandatory viewing for judges in Northern Ireland. Art is such a powerful tool for education, connection and change, and this is a perfect example of art infiltrating the system (in the UK at least. Australia – not so much.)
The writing takes us on the journey of Tessa Ensler (Sheridan Harbridge). From law school days to successful, sought after barrister, the text sees her re-enacting each moment – portraying every other character like telling the story to friends. It challenges you to reflect on how you’d feel in her shoes and the un-extraordinary and common nature (regarding who perpetrated the rape and how the event unfolded) makes it all the more easy to picture.
Reprising the role that she originated, acclaimed wearer of many hats – actress, singer, writer and director Sheridan Harbridge returns as Tessa Ensler.
On a bare stage, empty except for the spot lit office chair in the centre, a corporate, powerful looking woman bursts into the space. The opening scenes see her blazing like a firecracker. From sparkling eyes as she describes her love for court; the performance, the drama, the mind games and the unapologetic delight at winning, through to devastation, humiliation and needing the comfort that only her mum’s embrace can give – Harbridge’s every moment is absorbing. Her Tessa is blatantly funny and brings such charisma and specificity to all of the other characters in the story. Even in the depths of her despair, she has us laughing.
When I spoke with Sheridan last week about what it’s been like returning to the role, she talked about the shift she’s felt both personally and from an audience reception, saying “with age and what I’ve been through personally in the last seven years, I think I’ve found a lot more humour in her journey and now I understand that the way you keep your head above water can be really funny. I think you become wiser and more observant of the madness around you and things become funnier, and how you cope can become funnier. I think audiences can see themselves more in it – that it’s not just someone on stage bleeding out, it’s someone actually going, ‘this is completely insane’. And finding a survival humour in it.”
Harbridge is magnetic from go-to-whoa standing ovation. The specificity in the world she creates is so vivid and embodied, while the rawness and generosity of her performance draws a visceral response from around me.
Renee Mulder’s design is stark, cold, rigid, and black and white – just like the outdated laws around sexual assault. The sound and composition by Paul Charlier uses intensifying rhythmic backing that reminds me of the suspense building music in shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire – it’s used sparingly and well balanced and doesn’t overpower. Trent Suidgeest’s lighting intensifies Tessa’s isolation with severe, cold spot moments on the stand and uses the switch between warm and white lighting to differentiate location effectively.
Is Prima Facie worth seeing in Sydney?
It is a must-see.
Miller’s script references how the system is “shaped by the male experience, its cases decided by generations of male judges and its statutes legislated by generations of male politicians.” The work is a reminder of how far we need to come to address and counter the problem of male sexual violence.
Harbridge speaks of how the treatment of outspoken women in Australia, particularly in recent years has impacted her Tessa; “I think things have happened in the last few years that have really turned on outspoken women. That puts a darkness on it. It makes it more vital and more potent. I feel exhausted within it because of that. I think it’s been two steps forward, one step back but I tell myself that one step is always how this is going to happen. With every movement historically, there’s the surge forward, there’s backlash, and you just have to keep pushing forward.”
Tickets and Practical Info for Prima Facie in Sydney 🎟️
Roslyn Packer Theatre
Now Playing until 21 June
Tickets: https://primafacieplay.com.au/
CAST & CREATIVES
Sheridan Harbridge – Tessa
Suzie Miller – Writer
Lee Lewis – Director
Renée Mulder – Designer
Trent Suidgeest – Lighting Designer
Paul Charlier – Composer & Sound Designer
Matilda Ridgway – Standby Tessa
