Prima Facie tells the story of Tessa (Mel Dodge), a top defence lawyer who specialises in tearing holes in the claims of alleged victims of sexual assault. To her, law is a sport, and like all top athletes, she lives for the next game.The opponent is irrelevant, only beating them. Tessa is a captivating character; highly intelligent and a little cocky but self aware enough to be funny about it.
The inescapable intimacy of a one-person play is the perfect canvas for Prima Facie.
As Tessa monologues to the audience, she confides in us, she banters with us, she makes us laugh and draws us in. Somehow we are on Tessa’s side, vicariously enjoying the ride of her success. When she explains the correct method of interrogating a victim on the witness stand until they’re tangled in a web they can’t get out of, we can’t help but admire the craft. We really shouldn’t like her but we do.
One night, Tessa is brutally assaulted by someone close to her and everything she had taken for granted in life suddenly lies in tatters. The status afforded to her by a prestigious job, her position in society as a winner and her core sense of self are all suddenly feel deeply compromised. In the court case which follows, all the weapons of rhetoric, language and implication which Tessa deployed so skilfully for a living are turned in on her. Now she is the one trying to scramble her way out of a web the lawyer for the accused is spinning around her.
The bond established between the protagonist and the audience in the first half of the story serves to heighten the emotional impact of the harrowing turn of events. A “He Said, She Said” case is the most brutal dissection of character imaginable. For a jury of their peers, two people will compete to be viewed as the sole honest and respectable member of society.
Prima Facie examines the ingrained unconscious prejudices that form our collective perceptions, projections and biases. It also illuminates how the legal system and the power structures which govern society are built to defend the status quo from those who would disrupt it.
The plot and themes of Prima Facie are undeniably heavy but the play never risks overwhelming the audience with an excess of misery. On the contrary, it provokes a lot of thought about urgent societal issues while entertaining and engaging from beginning to end with a very tight control of pace and tone.
There’s a polish to the whole production born of experience, this being the 2nd season of the play after an initial New Zealand run last year. The minimal set, lighting and score serve the story well without ever distracting. The long standing ovation at the conclusion was richly deserved.
*Little whinge on the side: When you go to the theatre, go to the toilet before hand and turn your fucking phone off. Jesus.