PRIMA FACIE - Suzie Miller

Just under 24 hours ago I saw this play live at the Ros Packer Theatre in Sydney, and it was amazing.

I am going to try and stick to my resolution of much shorter blog posts but that still leaves a bunch of things to say.

Firstly, I want to mention this in passing. It was my first visit to the Ros Packer Theatre and out of it, The Wharf Theatre and the Belvoir, it's easily my favourite, at least in how it's configured and how the others were when I saw them. It's a traditional theatre orientation and it turns out that's my preference. I think.

But to Prima Facie

Some background

Prima Facie started it's life in very recent times (2019) at the Stable Theatre in Sydney. That original production was directed by Lee Lewis and starred Sheridan Harbridge in the lead (and only) role and the show was a big winner with the Awgie (Australian Writer's Guild) Awards..

From there the play continued to gain momentum and popularity. It toured Melbourne, then Adelaide and then Perth. It then took wing and was performed at the Harold Pinter Theatre on the West End with Jodie Comer playing Tessa and THAT production won Best Play and Best Actress at the Olivier Awards, and Best Play, Best Actress an Best Graphic Design at the WhatsOnStage Awards.

It then went to Broadway (again with Jodie Comer who won Best Actress at the Tonys and a bunch of other awards). Despite being only seven years old, it has already been performed in over 50 countries and in more than 30 languages.

I say this up front to establish that the play is worth assessing not only as a great Australian play, but a great modern play full stop. 

The Play

Prima Facie is a one woman play told from the perspectives and experiences of top flight barrister Tessa Ensler.

Two things that hit me instantly. Tessa is confident, she's fun and she's sassy, and the sound design absolutely pairs beautifully with the spoken word and deliver... each beat emphasised and underscored.

As with most if not all one handers, the story involves fourth considerable/total wall breaking. Tessa is talking to us. It starts with her divulging the tricks of her craft... the ways she lures unsuspecting witnesses into giving up information that they have no interest in giving up and which can potentially cause them nothing but grief. It

It's a tactical process akin to fishing... allow a bit of line, pull in a little, and let it play. She feigns confusion to lull a little extra misplaced confidence, does her best to appear non-threatening and easily overlooked, and then... POW. A master class I would imagine for up and coming barristers and certainly a riveting Ted's talk for a willing audience.

And so it goes for almost the first hour of the 90 minute play. It's like a day in the life, or a few weeks in the life of barrister Tessa. Her family life, her professional goals, her loves and dating misadventures... it's bloody engaging and entertaining just on that level... even if something more didn't lurk just around the corner.

But something did lurk. And this next bit is a spoiler I guess, although most promotions make it clear that this is a central topic of the play.

A date moves rapidly from consensual sex to forced and painful rape turns Tessa's life upside down. The date, a guy she liked and had already had sex with before, is a workmate. She is torn about whether she should report the case to police, knowing it will be complicated by previous consensual sex, by the fact it is a workmate... and mostly by the fact that she knows first hand how tough the system is ... how tough she has PERSONALLY made it for those who have experienced, and claimed sexual assault.

The play completely changes gear at this point... and if you are like me and walked into the play with no knowledge of the subject matter, it is a powerful switch and suddenly all of the previous advice about how she has tripped people over, how she liked this guy... so many elements become clearly more than accidental and interesting story telling and crucial threads.

I that final section, screens in the background guide the audience between time zones in the trial with the simple words THEN, NOW and AFTER displayed. All the time with graduated soundtrack, adjusting to the moments and lighting that matched them equally. In a one hander, lighting and sound are almost characters and in this play they definitely displayed Tessa's experience around her.

Thanks to adjournments and other legal processes, It takes Tessa 760 days to finally have her case heard. Things DO become difficult at work. Tessa finds herself doing so many of the things that she has critiqued clients doing. She over-speaks, becomes emotional, and the biggest crime of them all, becomes confused and unconvincing.

And the big whammy comes in the form of the motive the defence lawyers accuse her of. I don't want to spoil that one.

My thoughts

This is a stellar performance and it is so bloody enjoyable knowing that the actress, Sheridan Harbridge, and the director, Lee Lewis, have been given the chance to present a show that they originated and that since has become renowned and beloved. I imagine it's a very different experience to presenting it when it was largely unknown and finding its feet.

I know there are phrases that are overused in theatre, and I know that I am an occasional offender, so here I go again.

The phrase tour de force gets used a lot but I felt the term was apt for Sheridan's performance. She is SO fun and sassy... so engaging... then so hurt and vulnerable... and these are the tasks of actors and certainly in one person shows that demand a range of emotions and levels, that's probably expected... but if you're asking what I saw... I saw a master performance that dragged me inside emotionally and left me in awe of the actresses ability.

And I think Suzie Miller is an incredible crafts-woman. Her dialog is so rich with genuine vernacular, but also with legal terms that I don't personally understand but started to understand through her usage. Her creation of a flawed, almost arrogant but at all times likeable character is no mean feat and when the big hits come... what happens to Tessa, and then the experience of the courtcase... the room seemed unitedly stunned with emotion by the end. God I envy her brevity with dialog and clever plotting.

I do not in any way wish to diminish the work of the director and other creatives, but I felt the combination of Miller's script and Harbridge's performance complemented each other six ways to Sunday. There were plenty of Standing O's at the end of the play and it's subject matter was truly moving and stayed with... well certainly me but I suspect a great deal of the audience.

I am a sucker for two word play titles in latin (IYKYK) but irrespective of that, I liked this play so much that i think many of the renowned and established "great plays" will have their jobs cut out for them to move me more.

Could it work in Goulburn? It's worked in over 50 countries so abso-bloody-lutely. 

The version I have been referring to is currently showing at the Ros Packer Theatre from 3 June to 21 June 2026, and is presented by the Sydney Theatre Company.