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Prima Facie

 


When: 30th April 2022 (Matinee)

Where: Harold Pinter Theatre, London

Writer: Suzie Miller

Director: Justin Martin


I see a lot of theatre, and I like a lot of theatre, but when I say this is one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed I mean it. Throughout the whole performance I was captivated, my heart was racing, I was on the brink of tears for most of the second half. Alright I'm quite a big Jodie Comer fan, but she is genuinely one of the greatest young actors out there at the moment. I can guarantee you now this will be a play that will be talked about for years to come, and I am so lucky that I will be able to say 'I was there'.

Obviously the biggest draw for most people will be Jodie Comer, and it should be. Not because she's a popular name, but because her performance in this play is exquiste. From the moment she stepped on the stage the whole audience was captivated, she held us in her grasp for the entirety of her 100 minute monologue. Her stage presence was extraordinary. There were moments where it felt as if she was staring into my soul, and that sounds dramatic, but I felt like I was being personally addressed not as a member of the audience but as if I was alone. As the play built there were elements of comedy, the audience laughed for a brief moment before we were launched back into the fast pace of this emotional speech. How she manages to conjour the emotion that was felt by the end I don't know, the terror that she portrayed in her eyes, the pain, the overwhelmingness of the situation could be felt so clearly you forgot she was acting. She has such a clear idea of what it means to be human. I don't really know what else to say, it was one of those performances where it was so strong it just worked, and you can't pinpoint certain things it was just, incredible, and faultless. This being her stage debut it was very impressive, and the fact that she is doing that sometimes multiple times a day is astonishing, the emotional strength that that must take. I am in awe. 

I know that one of the aims of this piece is to create awareness about the law surrounding sexual assault, and it does it beautifully. Not only did I feel so much emotion towards the character, but it left me thinking about so much I wasn't properly aware of or hadn't thought about in that way before. The way that she picks apart the case, analysing both sides and how she was never going to win with the way the system is, it grounded the piece. When I create theatre myself I love to think about the societal relevance, I love leaving the audience with new thoughts and questions that they can apply to their own lives. This play does that, and it does it brilliantly. I think it is such an important piece, and it has so much power, the fact that they are keen on making it as accessible as possible is amazing and so important.

I know many critics were not too keen on the writing, and I can understand that. For me it really wasn't as bad as I had been made to think it was. I loved the style of it, the way that she imitates the different characters, and the pace at which it propels. However there were some moments that I felt were a little lazy, particularly the moment when she kept repeating 'This is me'. It felt like it had been done so many times before and it wasn't that interesting to listen to. That being said Comers performance of this scene almost hid all of that so it wasn't too much of an issue, but it did get a little annoying after a while. 

The set was really interesting, I loved the bookshelves that surrounded her for much of the performance, it highlighted how caught up she had been in her work. The rain effect was really cool, it wasn't used in any new way, it just felt as if it was raining and yes she was fighting it but wasn't that part of it? It made it feel more realistic, which was a big part of the plays success. I loved the way they changed setting by knocking over furniture and removing the bookshelves to reveal darkness, rather than changing set by keeoing the same stuff but showing it in a different way it reflected the chaos that had been introduced into her life and perfectly changed the atmosphere of the piece. I loved the use of technology to show her face on a small projection at the back, letting her face away from the audience and removing her connection with us. This was one of the moments in the story where she was made to feel inhuman, just another case, and this use of projection really helped to reflect this. One of my favourite moments was when the house lights came up during her final speech. Her speech began to shift into a more lecture style but it wasn't bad she simply connected the story to the real world and this use of lighting helped to further that. Reminding us of the truth and making us aware of the 1 in 3 women who experience sexual assault, making us think of how many that would be in the room of people we were in, an astounding number. I also loved the way this idea of 1 in 3 became a motif in the script also reflecting the change in her life, it went from being the number of people who will fail in the legal world to the number of women who experience sexual assault, making the point even more impactful.    

I really hope this win's some awards, I know its a long way away but I am rooting for Jodie Comer to win Best Actress at the Oliviers next year, she deserves it. I would love to see Prima facie again and I really hope as many people as possible get the chance to see it, it truly is spectacular.


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