(Content warning: This article is a review of a play featuring themes of sexual assault.)

Coming off an award-winning run on the West End and Broadway starring Jodie Comer, Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie has arrived in Perth, a new adaptation of the one-actor play starring Sophia Forrest and directed by Kate Champion.

An infamously challenging and harrowing story originating in the Me Too era, Prima Facie follows Forrest’s character Tessa Ensler through her life and law career and later, an assault by someone in her life that causes her to reframe and question everything she’s known. Her work life, personal life and love life become entangled with the ensuing case over years, tarnishing her faith in the legal system she used to know and trust.

Beginning with a look into Tessa’s life as a defence barrister in Australia, she begins as a character in her element, winning cases for her clients and revelling in her newfound legal power. The timeline flips between this present and her past; a lower-class upbringing not deterring her from success in her first days of law school. The energy of Tessa is exuberant, almost musical-theatre-esque as she details her life and how she got to where she is. Forrest does a stellar job of describing and personifying over twenty characters in her life from judges, colleagues and family members, while having next-to-no extra backup, on-stage or off. 

The sound design and sets are minimal in the first half-hour, a few boxes, pillars and light effectively making the whole of the stage, making Forrest’s performance even more impressive without anything to react to. Additional set isn’t introduced until the climactic moment of Tessa’s assault, when her inner reactions are projected onto the back of the large box she sits in, giving additional depth to one of the hardest scenes.

Ultimately, Prima Facie is the story of a woman losing her trust in the systems that used to hold her and the ultimate futility of being a woman in a misogynistic world. The legal system, the perceptions and opinions of society at large, even her close relationships are all defined by these invisible forces of patriarchy. The play’s most brutal moments are tinged with an awkwardness, as Tessa fights for what she deems is right while still being at odds with herself as a passive woman; she wants to accuse, but within the bounds of the law. She wants the perpetrator to be held accountable, while being aware that she is not a perfect witness. These dichotomies drive the play and intentionally leave the viewer with an uncomfortable lack of answers.

This lack of answers hopefully generates discussion, as Prima Facie is extremely relevant viewing for WA residents particularly. The state has outdated consent laws in the state in need of change; In Western Australia, intoxication is not acknowledged in judging how people can consent to sexual acts, maligned with the rest of the country. There is also the onus on the survivor to prove they did enough to not consent rather than on the accused to prove there was consent. Prima Facie has been used worldwide to educate and recontextualise legal proceedings and is compelling, chilling viewing that deserves to reach further into the systems it represents to make meaningful change.

4.5 stars

Photography by Daniel J. Grant

Prima Facie will be performed until 21st July 2024 at the Heath Ledgers State Theatre.

Tickets here: https://blackswantheatre.com.au/season-2024/prima-facie